If your air conditioner limped through last summer and you’ve been putting off the replacement, the state of Texas is about to knock 8.25 percent off the bill. The annual ENERGY STAR Sales Tax Holiday runs Saturday, May 23 through midnight Monday, May 25, Memorial Day, and a companion holiday for water-saving products runs the same three days.
In most of DFW that 8.25 percent is real money on a big appliance: about $250 on a $3,000 AC system, about $100 on a $1,200 refrigerator. Here’s exactly what qualifies, the price caps that catch people, and how the delivery-charge fine print works.
What’s tax-free, and the caps that matter
The Comptroller’s list is short and specific. During the holiday you can buy, rent or lease these ENERGY STAR labeled items without sales tax:
Air conditioners priced at $6,000 or less. Refrigerators priced at $2,000 or less. Ceiling fans. Incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs. Clothes washers. Dishwashers. Dehumidifiers.
Note what’s missing. Clothes dryers don’t qualify even with an ENERGY STAR label, and neither do water heaters, freezers, stoves, attic fans, heat pumps or wine fridges. The washer is tax-free; the matching dryer next to it is not. The item must carry the ENERGY STAR label, not just claim efficiency. There’s no limit on how many qualifying items you buy, and you don’t need any exemption paperwork at the register; the discount applies automatically.
Watch the delivery charge on the big two
Here’s the trap the Comptroller’s office spells out: delivery, shipping and installation charges from the seller count as part of the sales price. For ceiling fans and light bulbs that doesn’t matter. For air conditioners and refrigerators, which carry price caps, it can flip the whole purchase back to taxable.
The Comptroller’s own example: a $1,995 ENERGY STAR refrigerator with a $50 delivery fee has a total sales price of $2,045. That’s over the $2,000 cap, so tax is due on the entire $2,045, not just the overage. If you’re shopping near a cap, ask the store to quote the total with delivery before you commit, or arrange your own haul-away.
Online orders count, if you pay in time
You don’t have to fight the Memorial Day crowds. Purchases made online, by phone or by mail qualify as long as you pay during the holiday window, even if the item ships and arrives weeks later. The rule turns on when payment goes through: a card charged at 5 p.m. Monday qualifies; a card declined Monday night and resubmitted Tuesday morning does not. If a seller charges you tax on a qualifying item by mistake, you can request the refund through the process on the Comptroller’s holiday page.
The quieter half: water-saving products
Running alongside the appliance holiday is the Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday, and for North Texas yards heading into a long hot summer it’s arguably the more useful one. Anything carrying the WaterSense label, think efficient showerheads, faucets, toilets and irrigation controllers, is tax-free for personal or business use. Lawn-and-garden products that conserve water at a residence also qualify, and there are no price caps on this side.
Between the two holidays, the Comptroller’s office estimates Texans will save about $15.7 million in state and local sales tax this weekend.
Make the list before Saturday
The weekend goes better with homework done in advance. Check which models actually carry the ENERGY STAR certification using the official product finder rather than trusting a shelf tag, and note that renting or leasing a qualifying item during the window is tax-free too, which matters for anyone renting a dehumidifier after a spring plumbing leak. Measure the fridge opening, check the washer hookup, and decide on delivery versus haul-it-yourself before Saturday, since that choice can decide whether a near-the-cap appliance qualifies at all.
It’s also worth a quick look at whether your electric delivery company or retail provider is running any efficiency rebate that stacks on top; a rebate plus the tax exemption plus a holiday sale price is the best-case math on a big unit.
Is a holiday-weekend AC worth it?
A few honest notes before you swipe. The tax holiday stacks with whatever sale price the retailer is running, so compare the Memorial Day promotion prices too; a deeper store discount in July can beat a tax-free sticker in May. For central air, the equipment usually sells as part of an installed contract, and the holiday rules treat contractor purchases differently, so ask your HVAC company directly how the exemption applies to your quote. And efficiency pays twice here: an ENERGY STAR unit bought tax-free keeps trimming your Oncor-delivered kilowatt-hours every summer after.
If the fridge is dying, the fans are wobbling or the sprinkler system wastes half of what it sprays, this is the weekend Texas subsidizes the fix. Saturday through midnight Monday, statewide, no coupons required.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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