Sales/Use/Indirect:
South Carolina DOR Says Digital Books Sold to College Students Qualify for Textbook Exemption
Private Letter Ruling #24-2, S.C. Dept. of Rev. (3/18/24). A recently posted South Carolina Department of Revenue (Department) private letter ruling concluded that based on the provided facts, certain digital books sold by a company to college and university students constituted textbooks used in a course of study in institutions of higher learning, and thus were exempt from state sales and use taxes pursuant to South Carolina’s textbook exemption under S.C. Code section 12-36-2120(3)(a) despite their digital format. In doing so, the Department reasoned that for purposes of the exemption, a “textbook” may include additional alternate forms of the traditional printed textbooks beyond those specifically enumerated by statute and regulation – so long as the alternate form does not constitute a “communications service.” In the case at hand, the “eTextbooks” purchased by students were digital, downloadable versions of a printed textbook, and the Department reasoned that this digital format did not change the educational content of the book – all of which were offered to and purchased by college and university students for their prescribed courses of study. Please contact us with any questions.
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