Texas Administrative Code › Title 34 - PUBLIC FINANCE › Part 1 - COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS › Chapter 3 - TAX ADMINISTRATION › Subchapter O - STATE AND LOCAL SALES AND USE TAXES › Section 3.293 - Food; Food Products; Meals; Food Service

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Definitions. The following words and
				  terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
				  context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)
				  Bakery--A retail location where more than 50% of sales made are sales of bakery
				  items sold from a display case or counter and consumed off the premises. A
				  retail location is a premise occupied temporarily or permanently by the seller
				  where the seller holds or handles bakery items for retail sale. The term
				  includes a table, booth, or other space rented or leased by a seller within a
				  multi-seller marketplace.
(2)
				  Bakery items--Bread , rolls, buns, biscuits, bagels, croissants, pastries,
				  doughnuts, Danish pastries , cakes, tortes, pies, tarts, muffins, bars ,
				  cookies, tortillas, and similar items. The term does not include candy, snack
				  items, sandwiches, tacos, or pizzas.
(3) Bulk vending machine--A device that
				  contains unsorted items and randomly dispenses goods in approximately equal
				  amounts without selection of a particular item or type of item by the
				  customer.
(4) Candy--A confection
				  made with natural or artificial sweeteners. Examples include: candy bars; gum;
				  drops; taffy; nuts, raisins, and fruits that have been candied, crystalized,
				  glazed, or coated with chocolate, yogurt, or caramel; and nuts roasted with a
				  sweetener. The term does not include products used exclusively for cooking,
				  such as chocolate bits and cake sprinkles.
(5) Combine--To join two or more food
				  products into a single item.
(6)
				  Eating utensils--Tableware implements for cutting or eating food, or an object
				  used as a container intended for drinking. Examples include trays, plates,
				  knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, chop sticks, or straws.
(7) Food and food ingredients--Substances,
				  whether in liquid, concentrated, solid, frozen, dried, or dehydrated form, that
				  are sold for ingestion or chewing by humans and are consumed for taste, aroma,
				  or nutritional value.
(A) Food and food
				  ingredients include food products intended for human consumption, such as the
				  following: cereal and cereal products; milk and milk products, butter, and
				  yogurt; oleomargarine; meat and meat products; poultry and poultry products;
				  fish and fish products; eggs and egg products; vegetables and vegetable
				  products; fruit and fruit products; spices, condiments, and salt; sugar
				  products; coffee and coffee substitutes; tea; juice (if more than 50% fruit or
				  vegetable juice by volume); cocoa and cocoa products; canned foods; snack
				  items; or any combination of these.
(B) Food products do not include:
(i) alcoholic beverages;
(ii) cigarettes, tobacco, or tobacco
				  products;
(iii) candy;
(iv) ice;
(v) water; or
(vi) drugs, medicines, tonics, vitamins,
				  dietary supplements, and medicinal preparations in any form. For further
				  information about drugs, medicines, and dietary supplements, see §
													3.284
				  of this title (relating to Drugs, Medicines, Medical Equipment and
				  Devices).
(8)
				  Food ready for immediate consumption--Food, drinks, or meals prepared, served,
				  or sold by restaurants, lunch counters, hotels, cafeterias, delis, mobile
				  vendors, or other like places of business, that, when sold, require no further
				  preparation by the purchaser prior to consumption; and food sold through
				  vending machines. A grocery store or convenience store that contains a
				  restaurant, lunch counter, deli, or other similar location is a like place of
				  business selling food ready for immediate consumption, but only for items sold
				  at that location.
(9) Food sold
				  through vending machines--Food dispensed from a machine or other mechanical
				  device that accepts payment.
(10)
				  Mix--To blend two or more food items together into a single item that is more
				  or less a uniform whole, but each ingredient may or may not retain its identity
				  (e.g., potato salad, coleslaw or seafood salad).
(11) Mobile vendor--A person who sells food
				  from a motor vehicle, push cart, or any other form of vehicle.
(12) Prepared food--Prepared food means:
(A) food ready for immediate
				  consumption;
(B) food sold in a
				  heated state or heated by the seller;
(C) food sold with eating utensils provided
				  by the seller; or
(D) two or more
				  food ingredients mixed or combined by the seller for sale as a single item,
				  including items that are sold by weight or volume as a single item, but does
				  not include food that is prepared at an off-site location, refrigerated food
				  that is typically reheated prior to eating, or food that is only cut,
				  repackaged, or pasteurized by the seller.
(13) Retirement facility--A facility that
				  provides permanent housing and residence to individuals, a majority of whom are
				  60 years of age or older.
(14)
				  Snack items--Snack items means:
(A) breakfast
				  bars, granola bars, nutrition bars, sports bars, protein bars, and yogurt bars,
				  unless they are labeled and marketed as candy;
(B) snack mix and trail mix;
(C) nuts, but not including pine nuts or nuts
				  that have been candied, crystalized, glazed, coated with chocolate, yogurt, or
				  caramel, or roasted with a sweetener;
(D) popcorn;
(E) chips, crackers, hard pretzels, pork
				  rinds, and corn nuts;
(F) sunflower
				  seeds and pumpkin seeds;
(G) ice
				  cream, sherbet , and frozen yogurt; and
(H) ice pops, juice pops, sorbet, and other
				  frozen fruit items containing not more than 50 percent fruit juice by
				  volume.
(15) Soft
				  drinks--Packaged carbonated and non-carbonated non-alcoholic beverages that
				  contain natural or artificial sweeteners.
(A)
				  The term includes mixes that when combined with water become soft drinks, and
				  bottled and canned teas and coffees that contain natural or artificial
				  sweeteners.
(B) The term does not
				  include beverages that contain milk or milk products, soy, rice, or similar
				  milk substitutes, or juices that contain more than 50% vegetable or fruit juice
				  by volume.