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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8511L0690C06 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1985-11-18

Were pollution-control materials exempt when financed by Clean Air Financing Act bonds or Regional Waste Disposal Act financing?

Short answer: Clean Air Financing Act bond-funded materials were exempt, but the Regional Waste Disposal Act had no comparable exemption; refund proof was required.

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 comparing material purchases financed under the Clean Air Financing Act with purchases under the Regional Waste Disposal Act. Its refund process required allocation figures and proof that collected tax had been returned to the purchaser. It expressly says different facts could change the opinion. Current bond, pollution-control, waste-disposal, exemption, refund, and sales-tax rules may differ, and STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded.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

Material purchases financed through revenue bonds issued under the Clean Air Financing Act were exempt from sales tax. The Comptroller said the Regional Waste Disposal Act did not contain a comparable exemption.

For a refund of tax on Clean Air Financing Act purchases, the requester had to provide figures identifying the bond-funded items and documentation proving the collected tax had been refunded to the purchaser.

Common questions

Were Clean Air Financing Act bond-funded materials exempt? Yes.

Did the Regional Waste Disposal Act provide the same exemption? No.

What did the refund require? Purchase figures and proof that the tax had been returned to the purchaser.

Citations and references

  • Clean Air Financing Act — exemption identified in the letter.
  • Regional Waste Disposal Act — no comparable exemption, according to the letter.

Source

Original ruling text

November 18, 1985

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter requesting a refund of sales tax collected and
remitted by *** on sales to *****.

Material purchases financed by the issuance of revenue bonds by the
*** under the Clean Air Financing Act are exempt from the sales
tax.

The Regional Waste Disposal Act does not contain an exemption for purchases
such as is found in the Clean Air Financing Act.

If you will provide figures for items purchased with funds provided under
the Clean Air Financing Act, we will refund the sales tax on those amounts to
***. You must also submit documentation to prove that the tax has
been refunded to *****.

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

Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions. You may
write us, call toll free 1-800-252-5555 from anywhere in Texas.

Sincerely,

Tax Policy
Tax Administration

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