HB3504 - Relating to an exemption from sales and use taxes for certain qualified tools and equipment for a limited period.

  89R28320 CJD-F     By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 3504     Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3504:     By:  Turner C.S.H.B. No. 3504       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to an exemption from sales and use taxes for certain   qualified tools and equipment for a limited period.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended   by adding Section 151.360 to read as follows:           Sec.   151.360.     CERTAIN QUALIFIED TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR   LIMITED PERIOD. (a) In this section, "qualified tool or equipment   item" means:                 (1)     an item listed in this subdivision, the sales   price of which is less than the greater of $225 or the amount   provided by Subsection (c):                       (A)  a power tool;                       (B)  a pair of work boots;                       (C)  a job box, toolbox, or tool organizer; or                       (D)  an industry textbook or codebook; or                 (2)     an item listed in this subdivision, the sales   price of which is less than the greater of $100 or the amount   provided by Subsection (c):                       (A)  a hand tool;                       (B)  a pair or set of safety glasses;                       (C)  protective coveralls; or                       (D)  a pair of work gloves.           (b)     The sale of a qualified tool or equipment item is   exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter if the sale takes   place during a period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the Friday   preceding the first Monday in September and ending at 11:59 p.m. on   the first Monday in September.           (c)     Beginning January 1, 2027, on January 1 of each fifth   year, the amounts prescribed by Subsections (a)(1) and (2),   respectively, are increased by an amount equal to the amount   prescribed by that subsection on December 31 of the preceding year   multiplied by the cumulative percentage increase, if any, in the   consumer price index during the preceding five-year period and   rounded to the nearest five dollars. In this subsection, "consumer   price index" means the average over a state fiscal year of the   Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. City   Average, published monthly by the United States Bureau of Labor   Statistics or its successor in function.          SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act does not   affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this   Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been   enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the   collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of   the liability for those taxes.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2026.