Ezel / Tax Rulings / TX
TX 9409689L Sales and/or Use Tax (State,Local,MTA) 1994-09-02

Is cleaning, painting, and sealing residential air vents/ducts taxable in Texas?

Short answer: No, not when paint and sealing are involved. The Comptroller reconsidered an earlier ruling that soot-cleaning of vents/ducts was taxable janitorial work, and concluded that when the service also includes applying paint to seal the vents, it goes beyond janitorial services and is remodeling instead — so the labor is not taxable when performed on a residence.

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This page answers the general question as of 1994. Ezel answers yours, under current Texas tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 1994
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 Code Rules 3.1 and 3.10); documents on STAR may no longer represent current policy even if not marked superseded.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.

Subject

Vents/Air Ducts — Painting And Sealing Combined With Cleaning — Is Remodeling Of Residential/Commercial Property

Source

Plain-English Summary

This is a follow-up letter in which the Texas Comptroller's office reconsidered an earlier determination. A cleaning business performed an "IES" service — cleaning soot out of air vents and ducts. In an earlier letter, the Comptroller had ruled that this soot-cleaning service was taxable, treating it as a janitorial service. The taxpayer then explained a fact that hadn't come up before: the vents weren't just cleaned, they were also painted and sealed, and asked the Comptroller to reconsider and treat the work as remodeling instead.

The Comptroller agreed. Once paint is applied to seal the vents, the service "goes beyond janitorial services" and should be treated as remodeling. Under Texas law, labor to remodel a residence is generally not taxable (unlike remodeling labor on nonresidential/commercial property, or ordinary janitorial services, which are taxable). So when this combined cleaning-paint-and-seal service is performed on a residence, the labor charge is not taxable.

What This Means For You

Cleaning and vent/duct service businesses

If your service is limited to cleaning soot, dust, or debris out of vents and ducts, that is treated as a taxable janitorial service. But if your process also involves applying paint or a sealant to the vents as part of the job, the Comptroller viewed that additional step as tipping the work into "remodeling." That distinction can change whether you need to collect sales tax on your labor, especially for residential customers.

Homeowners and residential property managers

Because Texas generally does not tax labor for remodeling a residence, a vent-cleaning-and-sealing job performed on a home may not carry sales tax on the labor portion, whereas a plain cleaning-only job would. If you're being billed for vent work, ask whether painting/sealing was part of the service, since that affects the taxability of the labor charge.

Commercial property owners

This ruling only addresses residential labor. It does not say that combined cleaning/painting/sealing labor performed on nonresidential (commercial) property becomes exempt — remodeling labor on nonresidential property is generally still taxable in Texas.

Q&A

Q: Is cleaning soot out of air vents and ducts taxable in Texas?
A: Yes, cleaning alone is treated as a taxable janitorial service.

Q: Does that change if the vents are also painted and sealed?
A: Yes. The Comptroller concluded that once paint is applied to seal the vents, the service goes beyond janitorial work and is treated as remodeling. When performed on a residence, the labor for that combined service is not taxable.

Citations

No statutes or administrative rules were cited in this letter.

Original ruling text

September 2, 1994

Dear ***:

On August 25, 1994, you asked for further clarification regarding the IES (soot
cleaning from vents) service performed by CLEANING BUSINESS. In my earlier
letter, I had determined that this service was taxable. However, you had not
advised me at that time that the vents were not simply cleaned of soot but were
also painted and sealed. You asked that I reconsider and determine that this
is remodeling.

I have concluded that the IES service when paint is applied to seal the vents
goes beyond janitorial services and should be treated as remodeling.
Consequently, when this service is performed on a residence, the labor will not
be taxable.

You also sent a list of companies you believe are not complying with the new
law. I have forwarded the list to our Revenue Opportunities Program which will
be in touch with the companies.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Wade Anderson
Assistant Director
Tax Administration

cc: June Zivley
Revenue Opportunities Program

Joe Galvan
Manager, Tax Administration

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