HOUSTON – Texans and Texas businesses can save on certain water- and energy-efficient products from May 28-30 for the sales tax holidays.
“Anyone who’s lived through a Texas summer knows triple-digit temperatures, outdated water systems and inefficient appliances can put a strain on our water supplies and power grids,” Hegar said. “By taking advantage of these sales tax holidays, Texans can make upgrades that will help alleviate those pressures and lower their utility bills — while saving money on state and local sales taxes.”
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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in a news release that the 2022 tax-free Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday begins Saturday, May 28, and goes through midnight on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day). The Texas Comptroller’s Office estimates shoppers will save about $14 million in state and local sales tax.
This is the seventh year for the Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday. Products displaying a WaterSense label or logo can be purchased tax free for personal or business use. These include showerheads, bathroom sink faucets and accessories, toilets, urinals and landscape irrigation controls.
The sales tax holiday also applies to lawn and garden products that help conserve water outdoors. Items qualifying for the exemption include soaker or drip-irrigation hoses; moisture controls for sprinkler or irrigation systems; mulch; and plants, trees and grasses. These items can be purchased tax free for residential use only. There’s no limit on the number of water-efficient or water-conserving products you can purchase tax free.
Information below provided by the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
WaterSense Products
During the holiday period, you can buy any product tax free that displays a WaterSense label or logo. These items can be bought for either personal or business purposes.
Water-Conserving Products
You can also buy certain water-conserving products tax free during the holiday period.
Unlike WaterSense-labeled items, these items are only exempt when you buy them for use at your residential property.
You can buy items tax free during the holiday that are used or planted for
- conserving or retaining groundwater;
- recharging water tables; or
- decreasing ambient air temperature, and so limiting water evaporation.
Examples of items that qualify for the exemption include
- a soaker or drip-irrigation hose
- a moisture control for a sprinkler or irrigation system
- mulch
- a rain barrel or an alternative rain and moisture collection system
- a permeable ground cover surface that allows water to reach underground basins, aquifers or water collection points
- plants, trees and grasses
- water-saving surfactants
- soil and compost
Examples of items that do not qualify for the exemption include
- construction/building materials
- awnings and other items used to create shade
- air conditioners*
- ceiling fans*
- sprinklers
*Certain air conditioners and ceiling fans can be bought tax free as part of the Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday during Memorial Day weekend.
Contractors, Landscapers and Other Service Providers
WaterSense Products
Purchases
Contractors, landscapers and other service providers can buy WaterSense products tax free to keep in inventory. An exemption or resale certificate is not required.
Sales
Contractors, landscapers and other service providers can sell WaterSense products tax free under a separated contract during the holiday period. This exemption applies to residential and business customers.
Water-Conserving Products
Purchases
Since the exemption does not apply to water-conserving products used for business, lump-sum contractors cannot buy water-conserving products tax free to keep in inventory until ready for use in new or existing residential property or in new commercial property. You must continue to pay tax on these items.
Service providers repairing and remodeling commercial property, and all separated contractors, must give a resale certificate to the seller for water-conserving products bought during the holiday period.
Sales
Separated contractors can sell water-conserving products tax free only to individual customers for their residences during the holiday period. Sales to businesses are taxable.
Online Purchases and Telephone Orders
During the holiday you can buy qualifying water-efficient and water-conserving products in-store, online, by telephone, mail, custom order, or any other means. The sale of the item must take place during the specific period. The purchase date is easy to determine when the purchase is made in-store but becomes more complicated with remote purchases. The purchaser must have given the consideration for the item during the period even if the item may not be delivered until after the period is over.
For example, if a purchaser enters their credit card information in an online shopping website on Monday May 30, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.to purchase a qualifying rain barrel, but the rain barrel will not be shipped until Friday June 3, 2022 and will not arrive until Tuesday June 7, the purchase will still qualify for the exemption. However, if the charge to your credit card is declined by the payment processor at 11:00 p.m. on Monday May 30, 2022 and the purchaser does not resubmit payment until Tuesday May 31, the purchase is taxable.
Sales Tax Holiday Refund Requests
Purchasers can buy certain water-efficient and water-conserving products during the annual Texas Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday. If you pay sales tax on these items during the sales tax holiday, you can ask the seller for a refund of the tax paid. The seller can either grant the refund or provide their customer with Form 00-985, Assignment of Right to Refund (PDF) that allows the purchaser to file the refund claim directly with the Comptroller’s office.
Should you have additional questions about refund requests, please contact us at 800-531-5441, ext. 34545, or visit our Sales Tax Refunds web page for further details on filing a refund claim.
For more information, contact us at Tax Help, or call 800-252-5555.
For more information on the Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday, visit the Comptroller’s website.
During the Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday, certain energy-efficient products displaying the Energy Star logo can be purchased tax free, including air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less, refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less, ceiling fans, compact fluorescent light bulbs, integral LED bulbs, dishwashers, dehumidifiers and clothes washing machines.
Qualifying Products
You can buy, rent or lease only the following Energy Star-labeled items tax free:
- air conditioners (with a sales price of $6,000 or less)
- refrigerators (with a sales price of $2,000 or less)
- ceiling fans
- incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs
- clothes washers
- dishwashers
- dehumidifiers
Non-Qualifying Products
Examples of items that do not qualify and are taxable, even if they are Energy Star-labeled include
- water heaters
- clothes dryers
- freezers
- stoves
- attic fans
- heat pumps
- wine refrigerators
- kegerators
- beverage chillers
Contractors and Taxable Service Providers
If you perform new construction or residential repair and remodeling contract work, you are a contractor. If you repair or remodel nonresidential real property, you are a taxable service provider.
Purchases
As a contractor or taxable service provider, you can buy qualifying Energy Star energy-efficient products tax free to keep in your inventory. You do not need to give the seller an exemption or resale certificate.
Sales
During the holiday, contractors and taxable service providers can sell Energy Star energy-efficient products tax free if they are incorporated into real property under a separated contract.
Examples of products incorporated into real property are central air conditioning units, ceiling fans and built-in appliances such as dishwashers. This exemption applies to both residential and business customers.
Online Purchases and Telephone Orders
During the holiday you can buy qualifying Energy Star energy-efficient products in-store, online, by telephone, mail, custom order, or any other means. The sale of the item must take place during the specific period. The purchase date is easy to determine when the purchase is made in-store but becomes more complicated with remote purchases. The purchaser must have given the consideration for the item during the period even if the item may not be delivered until after the period is over.
For example, if a purchaser enters their credit card information in an online shopping website on Monday May 30, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. to purchase qualifying incandescent light bulbs, but the incandescent light bulbs will not be shipped until Friday June 3, 2022 and will not arrive until Tuesday June 7, the purchase will still qualify for the exemption. However, if the charge to your credit card is declined by the payment processor at 11:00 p.m. on Monday May 30, 2022 and the purchaser does not resubmit payment until Tuesday May 31, the purchase is taxable.
Additional Charges Affect the Sales Price
Delivery, shipping, handling, and transportation charges by the seller are part of the item’s sales price. Charges for installing free-standing items are also part of the item’s sales price. If the item you buy is not taxable, then these charges are not taxable.
For air conditioners and refrigerators (because they have a price cap), you have to look at the item’s total sales price to determine whether you can buy it tax free.
For example, you buy an Energy Star refrigerator for $1,995 with a $50 delivery charge for a total sales price of $2,045. Because the refrigerator’s total sales price is more than the $2,000 cap for refrigerators, tax is due on the entire $2,045 sales price.
If a delivery charge is billed per item, and an invoice has both exempt and taxable items, only the qualifying exempt item’s delivery charge is exempt.
For a flat-rate delivery charge, the total delivery charge is applied to the tax-exempt items and is exempt if it does not cause the item’s sales price to exceed its price cap.
Sales Tax Holiday Refund Requests
Purchasers can buy certain Energy Star energy-efficient products during the annual Texas Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday. If you pay sales tax on these items during the sales tax holiday, you can ask the seller for a refund of the tax paid. The seller can either grant the refund or provide their customer with Form 00-985, Assignment of Right to Refund (PDF), which allows the purchaser to file the refund claim directly with the Comptroller’s office.
Should you have additional questions about refund requests, please contact us at 800-531-5441, ext. 34545, or visit our Sales Tax Refunds web page for further details on filing a refund claim.
More Information
For more information, call Tax Help, or call 800-252-5555.
Visit the Comptroller’s website for more details about the Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday.