Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8702L0798G12 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1987-02-26

Was a manufacturer's federal superfund tax passed through to its Texas customer included in the sales-tax base?

Short answer: Yes. The Comptroller treated the passed-through superfund tax as part of the cost of the goods and found no sales-tax-law exclusion for the customer charge.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1987. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1987
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 1987 Texas Comptroller letter addresses a manufacturer's federal superfund tax passed through to an end customer under the then-current law. Federal superfund provisions, separately stated taxes and fees, sales-price definitions, and state and local tax rules may have changed or differ for another charge. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. Identities 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 Texas Comptroller said the federal "superfund tax" that a manufacturer passed through to its customer was included in the Texas sales-tax base.

The charge was a cost of the goods. The letter found nothing in the sales-tax law allowing the amount to be excluded merely because the manufacturer separately passed it to the customer.

What this means for you

A separately identified government-related cost was not automatically outside the taxable sales price. The Comptroller looked at the charge as part of the manufacturer's cost of selling the goods.

Common questions

Was the passed-through superfund charge taxable? Yes.

Why was it included? It was part of the cost of the goods.

Did the letter identify an exclusion? No.

Citations and references

  • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act — identified as the source of the manufacturer's superfund tax.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller February 26, 1987

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter regarding the taxability of a "superfund tax"
paid
to a manufacturer under the Comprehensive Environmental Response
Compensation and Liability Act and passed on to you as end customer.

The "superfund tax" you pay to the manufacturer is considered a cost of
the
goods and includable in the tax base. There is nothing in the sales tax
law
which would allow its exclusion when passed on to the customer.

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 me if you have additional questions. You may
write me, call toll free 1-800-252-5555 from anywhere in Texas or phone
512/463-4600.

Sincerely,
F. Wayne McDonald
Tax Policy Section
Tax Administration Division

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