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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8511L0680D12 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1985-11-05

Was a charge for monitoring, analyzing, and recommending fixes for excessively vibrating equipment taxable in Texas?

Short answer: No. The company inspected and tested the equipment and made recommendations but did not repair it, so its charge was not subject to sales or use tax.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1985. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1985
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 an official 1985 Texas Comptroller taxpayer-response letter based on a company attaching monitors to customer equipment, analyzing vibration data, and recommending action without repairing the equipment. STAR's caption names semiconductors, chips, metal, oil equipment, and welds, but those items do not appear in the reproduced body, so this page does not claim they were separately decided. It expressly says different facts could change the opinion. Current inspection, testing, data, consulting, repair, and sales-tax rules may differ, and STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Letters on STAR can support detrimental reliance only for the taxpayer to whom the letter was directly issued under 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10. Taxpayer-identifying details are redacted. 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

The company attached monitors to customer equipment, analyzed the resulting information to determine whether the equipment vibrated excessively, and recommended what the customer should do. It did not repair the equipment.

The Comptroller said the charge for that inspection or testing service was not subject to sales or use tax.

Common questions

Was the vibration-analysis charge taxable? No.

Did the provider repair the equipment? No.

Did the reproduced body separately address every item named in STAR's caption? No.

Citations and references

The reproduced letter cites no numbered statute or rule.

Source

Original ruling text

November 5, 1985

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter requesting verification that the services
provided by your company are not taxable.

In our telephone conversation, you explained that your company performs
an analysis of your customer's equipment to determine if it is vibrating
excessively. You attach monitors to the equipment, analyze the information
from the monitors, and make suggestions to your customer as to what needs
to be done to the equipment. Your company does not repair the equipment.

A charge such as yours for inspecting or testing equipment is not subject
to the sales or use tax.

This opinion is based on the facts presented. If there are additional or
different facts, the opinion may change.

If you have any questions or need more information, please call us at
1-800-252-5555 toll free from anywhere in Texas. You may write us at the
Tax Administration Division.

Sincerely,

Tax Policy Section
Tax Administration Division

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