Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8901L0919G14 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-01-30

Were charges associated with layaway included in the sales price used to compute Texas sales tax?

Short answer: No, under the announced policy change. Texas said layaway-related charges would no longer be part of the sales price for sales-tax computation, prospectively.

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This page answers the general question as of 1989. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1989
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

The Comptroller notified a redacted organization that charges associated with layaways would no longer be treated as part of the sales price for computing Texas sales tax.

The policy change was prospective. The letter does not give an effective date, define which layaway charges qualified, or authorize retroactive refunds.

Common questions

Were layaway-related charges included in the sales-tax base? No under the announced policy change.

Was the change retroactive? No. The letter expressly made it prospective.

Did the letter identify a start date? No.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78774

LBJ State Office Building
512/463-4006

Bob Bullock
Comptroller

Dan Pearson
Deputy Comptroller

January 30, 1989

Dear **:

As follow-up to our phone conversation, please accept this letter as
notification to your membership that this agency will no longer consider
charges associated with layaways as part of the sales price for the purposes of
computing sales tax. This policy change will be prospective.

If I can be of any further assistance to you, please don't hesitate to call.

Sincerely,

Dan Pearson
Deputy Comptroller

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