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Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9410699L Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1994-10-07

Is Texas sales tax due on high-pressure washing services for motor vehicles, sidewalks, parking lots, and graffiti removal?

Short answer: No tax on washing motor vehicles — power washing a motor vehicle is not taxable. But graffiti removal, sidewalk washing, and parking lot washing are taxable, either as restoration/maintenance of tangible personal property (graffiti on TPP) or as building and grounds cleaning services (graffiti on realty, sidewalks, and parking lots).

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1994. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1994
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

A taxpayer opened a high-pressure washing company that washed motor vehicles, sidewalks, and parking lots, and also provided graffiti removal. The taxpayer asked the Comptroller's office how these services should be taxed.

The Comptroller's office explained that motor vehicles — a category that includes tractor-trailer rigs, commercially used vans, armored vehicles, armored vans, tree trimming vehicles, and bread vans — are not subject to tax when power washed. The charge for power washing a motor vehicle is simply not taxable.

Graffiti removal, however, is taxable, though the reasoning depends on what the graffiti is on. Removing graffiti from items of tangible personal property is taxable as the restoration or maintenance of tangible personal property. Removing graffiti from improvements to realty is taxable as building or grounds cleaning. Sidewalk washing and parking lot washing are also taxed as building and grounds cleaning services, regardless of graffiti.

What this means for you

Car wash and power washing business owners

If your business power washes motor vehicles (including trucks, vans, and other commercial vehicles), that charge is not subject to Texas sales tax. But if your business also washes sidewalks or parking lots, or removes graffiti from any surface, those charges are taxable — as building and grounds cleaning services, or as restoration/maintenance of tangible personal property when the graffiti is on an item of personal property rather than realty.

Accountants and tax professionals

This letter draws a clean line for high-pressure washing operations: taxability turns on what is being washed, not on the washing method itself. Power washing a motor vehicle is untaxed, while washing building-adjacent surfaces (sidewalks, parking lots) or removing graffiti is taxed under the existing building and grounds cleaning and TPP restoration/maintenance categories.

Common questions

Q: Is power washing a motor vehicle taxable in Texas?
A: No. The Comptroller's letter states the charge for power washing a motor vehicle is not taxable.

Q: Is removing graffiti from a vehicle or other personal property taxable?
A: Yes. Removal of graffiti from items of tangible personal property is taxable as the restoration or maintenance of tangible personal property.

Q: Is removing graffiti from a building or wall taxable?
A: Yes. Removal of graffiti from improvements to realty is taxable as building or grounds cleaning.

Q: Is washing sidewalks or parking lots taxable?
A: Yes. Sidewalk and parking lot washing is taxed as building and grounds cleaning, separate from any graffiti removal.

Citations and references

No statutes or rules are cited in the letter's text.

Source

Original ruling text

October 7, 1994

Dear *****:

I am responding to your letter dated September 26, 1994. You explained that you
had opened a high pressure washing company. You wash motor vehicles, sidewalks,
and parking lots as well as provide graffiti removal.

Motor vehicles include tractor-trailer rigs, commercially used vans, armored
vehicles, armored vans, tree trimming vehicles, and bread vans. The charge for
power washing a motor vehicle is not taxable.

Removal of graffiti from items of tangible personal property is taxable as the
restoration or maintenance of tangible personal property and from improvements
to realty as building or grounds cleaning. Sidewalk and parking lot washing is
also taxed as building and grounds cleaning. I have enclosed the two
administrative rulings dealing with these services.

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

You may also write to Tax Administration Division, Comptroller of Public
Accounts.

Sincerely,

Tax Administration Division

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