Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 8902L0928G13 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1989-02-10

Was a charge for handling infectious waste subject to Texas sales tax?

Short answer: No, provided the infectious waste described by the requester met one of the definitions in Rule 3.356(a)(4)(C) or (D).

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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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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 said sales tax would not apply to the requester's charge for handling infectious waste, provided the waste met a definition in Rule 3.356(a)(4)(C) or (D).

The short letter does not reproduce those definitions or decide how other kinds of medical waste should be treated. Its answer is therefore limited to the infectious waste described by the requester and the cited rule categories.

Common questions

Was the handling charge taxable? No, if the waste met one of the cited Rule 3.356 definitions.

Did the letter exempt every medical-waste service? No. It addressed the described infectious waste and conditioned the answer on Rule 3.356(a)(4)(C) or (D).

Could different facts change the result? Yes. The letter expressly says the opinion may change if the facts are additional or different.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

BOB BULLOCK
Comptroller February 10, 1989

Dear ***:

Thank you for your letter concerning sales tax on the handling of
infectious
waste.

Sales tax will not be due on the charge made for handling infectious
waste as
described in your letter provided it meets the definitions in one of the
following sections of Rule 3.356, (copy enclosed): Sec. (a)(4)(C) or
(a)(4)(D).

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

If you have any questions or need more information, please call our
toll-free
number 1-800-252-5555. The regular number is 512/463-4600. You may write
me
at Tax Correspondence, Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Sincerely,
Julie Pesl
Tax Correspondence

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