Texas farmers, ranchers, and timber producers are exempt from paying sales taxes on products used in the course of their agricultural or timber production.
Qualifying activities include farming, ranching, fiber production, timber production (including contract logging), operating feedlots or fish farms, bee keeping, custom harvesting, crop dusting, growing plants for commercial nurseries, veterinary businesses making farm or ranch calls, FFA or 4-H projects, and those teaching an agricultural course. Activities that do not qualify for a sales tax exemption include rodeos, horse boarding, training, racing, and trail rides, hunting and fishing operations, those with companion animals, wildlife management and conservation, and kennels and other animal boarding businesses. For more detail, click here.
Qualifying products that receive the tax exemption can be found in Texas Tax Code 151.316 and 151.3162. These include animals, feed, seeds, machinery and equipment exclusively used on the farm or ranch, forage, certain personal property, and more.
The numbers expire every four years and must be renewed. All agricultural and timber registration numbers in Texas will expire on December 31, so producers should act now to renew their numbers. In order to do so, producers may call the Comptroller’s Office at 1-844-247-3639 or can visit the Comptroller’s website.
Additionally, many agricultural retailers like feed stores or equipment dealerships keep exemption certificates on file, which will also need to be updated to continue receiving the sales tax exemption on qualifying products.
Article courtesy of Tiffany Dowell with Texas Agriculture Law Blog