Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8902L0922G14 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-02-19

When did the referenced Texas policy change for sand, gravel, and similar unprocessed materials take effect, and was it retroactive?

Short answer: The memo gave June 13, 1988 as the effective date and said the policy decision was not retroactive. It did not explain the policy's substantive tax rule.

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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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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

This short internal Comptroller memo answered only two timing questions about a referenced policy change for sand, gravel, and similar unprocessed material. It said industry representatives had been told to use June 13, 1988 as the effective date, and that the decision was not retroactive.

The preserved memo does not state what the policy changed or whether a particular sale was taxable. This page therefore does not infer a substantive holding from STAR's broader subject label.

Common questions

What effective date did the memo give? June 13, 1988.

Was the decision retroactive? No.

What exact tax treatment did the new policy establish? The preserved body does not say.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78774

February 19, 1989

To: Taxability Section

From: Martin Cherry

Subject: Sand, gravel, etc.

Every few weeks, it seems the question of whether the policy
change on sand, gravel and similar unprocessed material is
retroactive, and when it was effective.

For the record, the date the industry folks have been told to
use is June 13, 1988.

The decision is not retroactive.

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