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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9008L1038A13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1990-08-17

Did House Bill 1588 or the Petroleum Storage Tank Remediation Trust Fund exempt taxable items and services used to remove, repair, or replace leaking fuel tanks?

Short answer: No. The trust fund paid for remediation, but House Bill 1588 did not amend the sales-and-use tax law to exempt tangible personal property or taxable services used in that work. Taxable remediation inputs therefore remained taxable.

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This page answers the general question as of 1990. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1990
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 Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts letter published on the State Tax Automated Research (STAR) system. Letters on STAR can be the basis of a detrimental reliance claim only for the taxpayer to whom the letter was directly issued (see 34 Tex. Admin. Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded. Taxpayer-identifying details are redacted. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed Texas tax professional about your specific situation.
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

House Bill 1588 created the Petroleum Storage Tank Remediation Trust Fund to pay for remediation, but it did not create a sales-and-use tax exemption.

Tangible personal property and taxable services used to remove, repair, replace, or otherwise remediate leaking fuel storage tanks remained taxable when they were otherwise subject to tax.

Common questions

Did trust-fund payment make remediation purchases exempt? No.

Did House Bill 1588 amend the sales-tax law? Not to create the requested exemption.

Were all remediation charges necessarily taxable? The letter said otherwise taxable items and services remained taxable; it did not classify every possible charge.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller

August 17, 1990

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter of July 27, 1990, requesting a sales tax
exemption for owner/operators of leaking fuel storage tanks who
have the tanks removed and repaired or replaced under House Bill
1588.

The Petroleum Storage Tank Remediation Trust Fund, established un-
der House Bill 1588, pays for the remediation. The legislation
does not provide an exemption from sales and use tax on taxable
items (tangible personal property or taxable services) used or em-
ployed in remediation. The legislature did not amend the sales
and use tax act to provide an exemption for taxable items used or
employed in remediation.

Therefore, we cannot exempt taxable items used or employed in re-
mediation.

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

You may call 463-4600 if you have any questions or need more in-
formation. You may write to Tax Correspondence, Comptroller of
Public Accounts.

Sincerely,
Eddie C. Washington
Tax Correspondence

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