<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 12/31/95
000 C000000 0000314367
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0.a
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 DEAN WITTER TAX-EXEMPT SECURITIES TRUST
001 B000000 811-2979
001 C000000 2123922550
002 A000000 TWO WORLD TRADE CENTER
002 B000000 NEW YORK
002 C000000 NY
002 D010000 10048
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 DEAN WITTER INTERCAPITAL INC.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-42061
008 D010001 NEW YORK
008 D020001 NY
008 D030001 10048
010 A000001 DELETE
011 A000001 DEAN WITTER DISTRIBUTORS INC.
011 B000001 8-45262
011 C010001 NEW YORK
011 C020001 NY
011 C030001 10048
012 A000001 DEAN WITTER TRUST COMPANY
012 B000001 84-1785
012 C010001 JERSEY CITY
012 C020001 NJ
012 C030001 07311
013 A000001 PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
013 B010001 NEW YORK
<PAGE> PAGE 2
013 B020001 NY
013 B030001 10036
014 A000001 DEAN WITTER REYNOLDS INC.
014 B000001 8-14172
015 A000001 THE BANK OF NEW YORK
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 NEW YORK
015 C020001 NY
015 C030001 10286
015 E010001 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 119
019 C000000 DEANWITTER
020 C000001 0
020 C000002 0
020 C000003 0
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 0
022 A000001 *MORGAN STANLEY & CO. INCORPORATED
022 B000001 13-2655998
022 C000001 71147
022 D000001 101424
022 A000002 *MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER SMITH & INC.
022 B000002 13-5674085
022 C000002 77895
022 D000002 43495
022 A000003 *SMITH BARNEY SHEARSON INC.
022 B000003 13-1912900
022 C000003 56445
022 D000003 50745
022 A000004 *GOLDMAN,SACHS & CO.
022 B000004 13-5108880
022 C000004 56041
022 D000004 24700
022 A000005 *MORGAN (J.P.) SECURITIES INC.
022 B000005 13-3224016
022 C000005 41107
022 D000005 26404
022 A000006 *LEHMAN BROTHERS INC.
022 B000006 13-2518466
022 C000006 53697
022 D000006 3377
022 A000007 *FIRST CHICAGO CORP.
022 B000007 36-0899825
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 C000007 14300
022 D000007 32801
022 A000008 *PAINE WEBBER INC.
022 B000008 13-2638166
022 C000008 32992
022 D000008 13282
022 A000009 *BEAR STEARNS INTERNATIONAL
022 B000009 13-3604093
022 C000009 0
022 D000009 27596
022 A000010 *PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES INC.
022 B000010 22-2347336
022 C000010 4805
022 D000010 18117
023 C000000 440577
023 D000000 466263
024 000000 N
025 D000001 0
025 D000002 0
025 D000003 0
025 D000004 0
025 D000005 0
025 D000006 0
025 D000007 0
025 D000008 0
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027 000000 Y
028 A010000 4142
028 A020000 3320
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 11820
028 B010000 3026
028 B020000 3700
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 15747
028 C010000 3402
028 C020000 3216
028 C030000 0
028 C040000 14185
028 D010000 3151
028 D020000 3324
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 13987
<PAGE> PAGE 4
028 E010000 3001
028 E020000 3528
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 13521
028 F010000 3034
028 F020000 11524
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 14283
028 G010000 19756
028 G020000 28612
028 G030000 0
028 G040000 83543
028 H000000 19756
029 000000 Y
030 A000000 972
030 B000000 4.00
030 C000000 0.50
031 A000000 99
031 B000000 0
032 000000 0
033 000000 873
034 000000 N
035 000000 0
036 B000000 0
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038 000000 0
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040 000000 N
042 A000000 0
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046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.000
048 A010000 500000
048 A020000 0.500
048 B010000 250000
048 B020000 0.425
048 C010000 250000
048 C020000 0.375
048 D010000 250000
048 D020000 0.350
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<PAGE> PAGE 5
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 1250000
048 K020000 0.325
049 000000 N
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 Y
054 C000000 Y
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
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054 G000000 Y
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
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054 K000000 N
054 L000000 Y
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 N
055 B000000 N
056 000000 N
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061 000000 1000
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 1.3
062 F000000 0.0
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<PAGE> PAGE 6
062 J000000 0.0
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066 A000000 N
067 000000 N
068 A000000 N
068 B000000 N
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070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 Y
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 Y
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 N
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 N
070 J020000 N
070 K010000 Y
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 N
070 L020000 N
070 M010000 N
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 Y
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 Y
070 P020000 N
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<PAGE> PAGE 7
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 277177
071 B000000 258806
071 C000000 1261786
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073 A010000 0.6700
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<PAGE> PAGE 8
074 H000000 0
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077 A000000 Y
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077 F000000 N
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077 H000000 N
077 I000000 N
077 J000000 N
077 K000000 N
077 L000000 N
077 M000000 N
077 N000000 N
077 O000000 N
077 P000000 N
077 Q010000 N
077 Q020000 N
077 Q030000 N
078 000000 N
080 A000000 ICI MUTUAL
080 B000000 GULF CHUBB RELIANCE VIGILANT
080 C000000 100000
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081 B000000 118
<PAGE> PAGE 9
082 A000000 N
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SIGNATURE SHELDON CURTIS
TITLE VICE PRESIDENT
WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<LEGEND>
DEAN WITTER TAX-EXEMPT SECURITIES TRUST
FISCAL YEAR END FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 12-31-95
</LEGEND>
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 12-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> DEC-31-1995
<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1995
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 1,237,777,089
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 1,341,592,349
<RECEIVABLES> 20,308,914
<ASSETS-OTHER> 2,157,007
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 1,364,058,270
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 30,521,741
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 8,228,028
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 38,749,769
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 1,215,536,596
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 109,609,420
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 117,602,695
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 378,313
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 5,578,332
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 103,815,260
<NET-ASSETS> 1,325,308,501
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 0
<INTEREST-INCOME> 82,466,837
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> 6,331,236
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 76,135,601
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 17,721,238
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 117,785,387
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 211,642,226
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (75,983,289)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> (12,426,304)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 3,469,058
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> (15,722,604)
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 4,260,271
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 30,025,040
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 226,001
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> 283,398
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 5,608,466
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 6,394,051
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 1,321,889,407
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 11.01
<PER-SHARE-NII> 0.67
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> 1.19
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (0.67)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> (0.11)
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 12.09
<EXPENSE-RATIO> 0.48
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>
