<PAGE> PAGE 1
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001 A000000 THE AMERICAN FUNDS TAX-EXEMPT SERIES I
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007 C020200 THE TAX-EXEMPT FUND OF VIRGINIA
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<PAGE> PAGE 2
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011 C02AA01 CA
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012 A00AA01 AMERICAN FUNDS SERVICE COMPANY
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012 C01AA01 BREA
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013 A00AA01 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
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<PAGE> PAGE 3
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<PAGE> PAGE 5
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<PAGE> PAGE 7
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<PAGE> PAGE 10
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<PAGE> PAGE 11
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<PAGE> PAGE 12
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SIGNATURE HOWARD L. KITZMILLER
TITLE SR. VICE PRESIDENT
WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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<NAME> THE TAX EXEMPT FUND OF MARYLAND
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</TABLE>
WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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</TABLE>
August 31, 1999
To the Board of Trustees of
The American Funds Tax-Exempt Series I
In planning and performing our audit of the financial
statements of The American Funds Tax-Exempt Series I (the
"Trust") for the year ended July 31, 1999, we considered its
internal control, including control activities for safeguarding
securities, in order to determine our auditing procedures for
the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial
statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR,
not to provide assurance on internal control.
The management of the Trust is responsible for establishing and
maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are
required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit
pertain to the entity's objective of preparing financial
statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
Those control activities include the safeguarding of assets
against unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or
fraud may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of internal control to future periods is subject to
the risk that it may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and
operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness
is a condition in which the design or operation of one or more
of the internal control components does not reduce to a
relatively low level the risk that misstatements caused by
errors or fraud in amounts that would be material in relation
to the financial statements being audited may occur and not be
detected within a timely period by employees in the normal
course of performing their assigned functions. However, we
noted no matters involving internal control and its operation,
including controls for safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of July
31, 1999.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management and the Board of Trustees of the Trust and the
Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be
and should not be used by anyone other than these specified
parties.
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
Los Angeles, California