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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 7109L2017E12 Motor Vehicle Tax 1971-09-10

How did Texas distinguish a portable building from a mobile home, and did removing trailer equipment change mobile-home tax?

Short answer: A portable building was movable on skids or a frame but never equipped to operate as a trailer, so limited sales tax applied. A mobile home was built to move as a trailer and was subject to historical motor vehicle tax. Removing its wheels, axles, and tongue as a condition of sale did not change that identity or tax status.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1971. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1971
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is a September 10, 1971 internal field-operations clarification. Mobile-home and portable-building definitions, trailer adaptations, running-gear removal, builder identity, installation, real-property improvements, limited sales tax, motor vehicle tax, and historical Rulings 95-0.09 and 95-0.22 may have changed. The letter states its motor vehicle treatment for mobile-home sales on or after July 1, 1971 and should not be treated as current classification law. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

Trailer design, not the builder's identity, separated a historical mobile home from a portable building.

A portable building sat on skids or a frame that made it movable but lacked wheels or other equipment for trailer operation. Its sale fell under limited sales tax, while permanent real-estate installation followed Rulings 95-0.09 and 95-0.22.

A mobile home was built to move as a trailer. Sales on or after July 1, 1971 fell under motor vehicle sales and use tax, and removing the wheels, axle assemblies, and tongue as a sale condition did not change its motor-vehicle identity.

A mobile-home builder could still make a portable building by omitting trailer adaptations and transporting the structure separately by truck and trailer.

What this means for you

The letter classified the structure by how it was built for movement, not by the maker's regular business or removal of running gear at sale.

Common questions

Q: Did removing the wheels make a mobile home a portable building?
A: No.

Q: Did a mobile-home builder always produce mobile homes?
A: No.

Q: What governed a permanently installed portable building?
A: Historical Rulings 95-0.09 and 95-0.22.

Citations and references

  • Ruling No. 95-0.09
  • Ruling No. 95-0.22

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN

ROBERT S. CALVERT
Comptroller September 10, 1971

Mr. E. J. Castille
Director of Field Operations
111 East 17th Street, Room 201
Austin, Texas 78774

RE: Sales of Portable Buildings and Sales of Mobile Homes Installed

Dear Mr. Castille:

This letter is to clarify the differences in the referenced transactions.
A
portable building is built on skids or a frame of some type to make it
adaptable to moving but is never equipped with wheels or other apparatus
to
make it operative as a trailer.

A mobile home is a similar structure but built to be moved as a trailer.

The sale of a portable building is taxed under the Limited Sales, Excise
and
Use Tax. The sale of a portable building installed as a permanent
improvement
to real estate is controlled by Ruling No. 95-0.09 and 95-0.22.

The sale of a mobile home on or after July 1, 1971, is taxed under the
Motor
Vehicle Sales and Use Tax. A mobile home does not lose its identity and
tax
status as a "motor vehicle" even though the wheels, axle assemblies, and
tongue are removed as a condition of the sale.

The identity or regular business of the builder is not a governing
factor.
A structure built by a mobile home builder without trailer adaptations
and
transported to the customer's location by a truck and trailer is a
portable
building.

Very truly yours,
A. R. Anderson, Director
Sales Tax Division

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