Combs v. Health Care Services Corp.

This tax-refund case concerns the Tax Code’s sale-for-resale exemption, which grants purchasers of taxable goods and services a sales-tax exemption if they resell the items (since the ultimate purchaser will pay any tax due). Here, a government contractor seeks sales-tax refunds for purchases used to administer federal health-insurance programs. The question is one of scope: What categories of purchases qualify for the exemption?

Applying the Legislature’s sale-for-resale definition and exemption language, we believe the contractor here is entitled to most of the claimed refunds. There are…