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 company’s services constituted “information services,” because they do not gather, maintain, or compile information for its customers. The teacher plan was determined to be taxable data processing because the customizable lessons, instruction scheduling, and grade tracking “includes word processing, data entry, data retrieval, data search, information compilation. . . and other computerized data and information storage or manipulation.” Although the teacher plan includes the same elements as other nontaxable services, the teacher plan is sold for one lump sum charge and the taxable portion exceeds 5% of the total charge, thereby making the entire amount taxable. The Comptroller also determined that the taxpayer’s gathering and sale of information on prospective students to universities is a taxable information service. For any taxable information service or data processing, there is a 20% statutory exemption.