Beginning today you can save money on purchases of water and energy efficient items during the Texas Seventh Annual “Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday.” The Texas Comptroller’s Office provides the following details:

“Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is reminding families and businesses that they can save on the purchase of certain water- and energy-efficient products during the state’s Water-Efficient Products and ENERGY STAR® sales tax holidays.

The holidays, created by the Texas Legislature, both take place Saturday, May 28, through Monday, May 30. The Texas Comptroller's office estimates shoppers will save about $14 million in state and local sales tax.

“Anyone who’s lived through a Texas summer knows triple-digit temperatures, outdated water systems and inefficient appliances can put a strain on our water supplies and power grids,” Hegar said.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.”

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. 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.

Visit the Comptroller’s website for more details about the ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday.

Estimated annual energy and water savings for eligible products are listed below.

Appliance Type

Energy Savings

Water Savings

Central Air Conditioners

8%

Room/Window Air Conditioners

10%

Refrigerators

9%

Freezers

10%

Ceiling Fans/light Combination Units

60%

ENERGY STAR Certified Light Bulbs

90%

ENERGY STAR Certified Fixtures

90%

ENERGY STAR Certified Decorative Light Strings

75%

Clothes Washers

25%

33%

Dishwashers

*

**

Dehumidifiers

15%

WaterSense Products – Showerheads

17%

WaterSense label – Toilets

20%

* Costs about $35 per year to operate.

** Can save an average 3,870 gallons of water over its lifetime.

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

Water-Conserving Products

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.

photo: Getty Images

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