78R3488 SMJ-F
By: Campbell H.B. No. 633
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the application of the sales tax to certain
clothes-washing machines.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 151.356 to read as follows:
Sec. 151.356. CERTAIN CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINES. (a) In
this section, "water consumption factor" has the meaning assigned
by 10 C.F.R. Part 430, Subpart B, Appendix J, as that appendix
existed on September 1, 2002.
(b) This section applies to only a residential or commercial
clothes-washing machine with a capacity of:
(1) less than 3.5 cubic feet, if it is a front-loading
machine; or
(2) more than 1.6 cubic feet but less than 3.5 cubic
feet, if it is a top-loading machine.
(c) The sale of a clothes-washing machine is exempted from
the taxes imposed by this chapter if the machine has a water
consumption factor of 9.5 or less and meets standards for
efficiency adopted by the comptroller.
(d) The comptroller shall adopt efficiency standards for a
clothes-washing machine under this section in cooperation with the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The standards must:
(1) promote the efficient use of water by the machine;
and
(2) incorporate, to the extent appropriate and
practical, standards for clothes-washing machines established by
the United States Department of Energy and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
(e) This section expires December 31, 2006.
SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect October 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect taxes
imposed before the effective date of this Act, and the law in effect
before the effective date of this Act is continued in effect for the
purposes of the liability for and collection of those taxes.