Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9101L1069E10 Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1991-01-14

Did Texas county sales tax apply to residential use of gas and electricity?

Short answer: No. The Comptroller said county tax followed the same guidelines as state tax, so county and state tax should not be collected on residential electricity use.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 1991. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1991
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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 county tax on gas and electricity followed the same guidelines as state tax. The letter therefore instructed the recipient not to collect either county or state tax on residential electricity use.

The short letter did not cite a statute or rule and did not discuss commercial use or city tax.

What this means for you

For the residential electricity use addressed in this 1991 letter, county tax followed the state exemption. The document is narrow and does not answer other local-tax questions.

Common questions

Was county tax due on residential electricity use? No.

Was state tax due? No, according to the letter.

Did the letter discuss commercial utility use? No.

Did it cite a rule or statute? No.

Citations and references

  • No statute or administrative rule is cited in the ruling text.

Source

Original ruling text

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
STATE OF TEXAS
AUSTIN, 78774

JOHN SHARP
Comptroller January 14, 1991

Dear ****:

As we discussed, county tax on gas and electricity follows
the same guidelines as state tax. In other words, don't collect county and
state tax on residential use of electricity.

I appreciate your patience.

If you have any other questions or need more information,
please call me. The toll-free number is 1-800-531-5441. The regular number is
512/463-4614. or you may write me at the Tax Administration Division, [(fax)
512-475-0900]

Sincerely,
Adina Whittemore
Tax Administration

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