Texans can save on water- and energy-efficient appliances during the Memorial Day weekend due to a state sales tax holiday.
From Saturday, May 23, through Monday, May 25, Texans can purchase certain products tax-free if they have the Energy Star or WaterSense label, as stated by the Texas Comptroller’s office. Qualifying items include air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less, refrigerators at $2,000 or less, ceiling fans, light bulbs, clothes washers, dishwashers, and dehumidifiers. Tax-free water-efficient products include showerheads, bathroom sink faucets and fixtures, and landscape irrigation controls.
Items such as water heaters, clothes dryers, freezers, stoves, attic fans, heat pumps, wine refrigerators, kegerators, and beverage chillers do not qualify for the sales tax holiday.
For water-efficient items, products displaying a WaterSense label or logo are tax-free, along with items like soaker or drip-irrigation hoses, moisture control for sprinkler or irrigation systems, mulch, rain barrels, permeable ground cover surfaces, plants, water-saving surfactants, soil, and compost.
The tax holiday, created by the Texas Legislature, is part of the Energy Star program established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy in 1992. The Texas Comptroller’s office estimates that shoppers will save $15 million in state and local sales tax this year. More information about the Energy Star sales tax holiday can be found on the comptroller’s website.