Unique Green Incentive: No Sales Tax on Energy Star Appliances

Whether your goal is to go as green as possible regardless of costs or if the goal is to simply cut down on utility expenses, appealing to everyone’s pocketbook is generally an incentive that works.  This Memorial Day weekend throughout the State of Texas, there is a sales tax holiday on top of a 3-day holiday weekend for shoppers who are buying certain energy efficient appliances with the Energy Star seal on them.

Here is a list of items that qualify: air conditioners priced under $6,000 (room and central units), clothes washers (but not clothes dryers), ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, light bulbs (incandescent and fluorescent), programmable thermostats, and refrigerators priced under $2,000.

The 2009 Energy Star sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 25, 2009.  The tax-free holiday also applies to Internet and catalog sales of eligible products.  This is provided that the items are both paid for and delivered to the purchaser during the exemption period; or if the buyer orders and pays for the item and the retailer accepts the order during the exemption period for immediate shipment, even if delivery is made after the exemption period.  There are certain exceptions for certain layaway plans and delivery and installation charges may be exempt as well.  Here is a full list of exemptions and rules from the State of Texas.

A sales tax holiday is no way the only incentive that will drive buying goods in hard times.  But it is also at least a helping hand.  The sales tax holiday in many states and cities for back to school sales is believed to greatly help out in the end-of-summer sales for retailers.  There is a difference in this idea, and it will be one that many states or even the White House may want to consider. The prices of many of these items and the classifications of the items will put this into the “Durable Goods” sector of the economy.

Texas’ population of over 24 million does not have a weighting of more than 10% of the nation’s entire population like California’s 36.7 million.  But the economy in Texas has held up better in general than the rest of the country.  It is hard to know if this will give even a recognizable bump in certain aspects of the May Durable Goods reading.  But we’ll be looking for asterisk in those figures when they are released next month.

It will be interesting to see if this carries over into substantial sales of Energy Star appliances.  If this is successful, these ‘specials’ could become more and more common.

JON C. OGG
MAY 22, 2009