Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8801L0853A06 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1988-01-07

Were chimney sweeping and residential chimney-top, brick, and mortar replacement labor taxable in Texas?

Short answer: Chimney sweeping was taxable. Labor to replace chimney tops, brick, and mortar on residential real property was nontaxable, and the contractor could pay tax to suppliers and quote the customer a tax-included lump sum.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1988. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1988
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 a taxpayer-specific January 1988 Texas Comptroller letter. It says the opinion may change if the facts differ and cites no statute or rule. The repair answer is expressly limited to residential real property and labor replacing chimney tops, brick, and mortar; materials are handled through the stated contractor option. Chimney-cleaning, residential-repair, contractor, material, lump-sum, and invoice rules may have changed; verify current law. STAR documents may no longer represent current policy even when not marked superseded. 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

All chimney-sweeping operations were taxable.

Labor to replace chimney tops, brick, and mortar on residential real property was nontaxable. The contractor could pay tax to the supplier and give the customer a lump-sum price, showing no separate tax while recovering costs and profit in the total charge.

What this means for you

The historical letter separated chimney cleaning from specified residential repair labor and allowed a lump-sum contractor method for the latter.

Common questions

Was chimney sweeping taxable? Yes.

Was residential chimney-repair labor taxable? No, for the listed tops, brick, and mortar work.

Could the contractor quote one lump sum? Yes, after paying tax to the supplier.

Citations and references

The letter cites no numbered statute or rule.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller January 7, 1988

Dear ***:

Thank you for your inquiry relative to the taxability of chimney sweeping
and other related services.

You should collect tax on all chimney sweeping operations. Your
charges for labor to replace chimney tops, brick and mortar are not
taxable when done on residential real property. If you wish, you may pay
tax to your supplier and give your customer a lump sum price when
replacing chimney tops brick and mortar. You would not show any tax to
your customer but recoup all of your costs and profit in your lump sum
charge.

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,
Tom Soto
Tax Policy Division

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