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On February 6, 2023, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts released a memorandum summarizing the internal-use software regulations related to the state’s franchise tax research and development credit and the sales tax R&D exemption. The comptroller significantly revised these regulations in 2021 and then reversed the revisions in 2022, causing confusion among members of the…

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts amended its franchise tax apportionment rule, as published in proposed form in the March 10 issue of the Texas Register. The rule, which is now final, discards the “receipt-producing, end-product act” test in light of Eversheds Sutherland’s litigation in Sirius XM Radio, Inc. v. Hegar. Taxpayers should consider…

The Tax Policy Division of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued guidance summarizing certain federal statutes and regulations related to Internal Use Software (IUS) that are now incorporated-by-references into Texas’ research and development (R&D) laws. Specifically, for purposes of the franchise tax R&D credit laws and the sales tax R&D exemption, the Comptroller incorporates-by-reference…

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (the Comptroller) published proposed amendments to Texas’ franchise tax apportionment rule in the January 20 issue of the Texas Register, discarding the now-repudiated “receipt-producing, end-product act” test. The Comptroller proposed these amendments in response to the Texas Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Sirius XM Radio, Inc. v. Hegar. Eversheds…

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts held its annual briefing in Austin on September 29 and provided taxpayers with updates regarding audits, staffing, pending legislation and related topics. The meeting – which was the first in-person briefing since the beginning of the pandemic – highlighted several taxpayer-friendly audit changes and efficiencies being driven by the…

The Texas Comptroller published a private letter ruling concluding that subscriptions to online learning courses for academic subjects, professional topics, and vocational topics are not taxable. However, a company’s subscriptions for the “teacher plan,” which provides teachers lesson plans and other capabilities to integrate into their classrooms, are taxable as data processing. None of the…

The Texas Comptroller recently published a private letter ruling (issued on June 10, 2022) concluding that access to a cloud-based online platform used by healthcare students while attending courses at accredited universities and colleges was not subject to sales tax. The platform was accessed exclusively via the Internet, and the students did not download any…

The Texas Comptroller recently released a private letter ruling (provided to the taxpayer on April 29, 2022) concluding that the taxpayer’s payment card management services are nontaxable in Texas. In the ruling, the taxpayer provides a payment card management program that allows services, such as food delivery services, the ability to apply customized spending limits…

“Business-friendly” Texas has been the leading poacher of California-based companies for over a decade, with relocations from tech-dominated California only accelerating during the pandemic. Oddly enough, at a time when Texas’s highest-profile new neighbors are known for cutting-edge research, the state seeks to narrow the scope of its research and development credit applicable to some…