# The Texas water-efficient sales tax holiday: what it covers for your yard

> Each Memorial Day weekend, Texas drops sales tax on soaker hoses, drip lines, irrigation controls, mulch and plants. How to use it for even moisture at a slab.

URL: https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/blog/water-efficient-sales-tax-holiday-yard/

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Each year over Memorial Day weekend, Texas lets homeowners buy soaker hoses, drip irrigation, irrigation moisture controls, mulch and plants without sales tax. Several of those help keep foundation soil evenly moist.

Every year, Texas holds a sales tax holiday for water-efficient and ENERGY STAR products over Memorial Day weekend, from Saturday through Monday. During it, homeowners can buy soaker and drip-irrigation hoses, moisture controls for sprinkler systems, mulch, and plants, trees and grasses without paying sales tax. [Rein Irving Drainage Company](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/) does not sell any of these; this post explains what qualifies and how those items fit into keeping a yard and a slab in good shape on Irving clay.

## When it happens

The Texas Comptroller announces the dates each May. The holiday runs from Saturday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend, alongside the ENERGY STAR holiday on the same days. There is no limit on how many qualifying water-efficient products you can buy tax free.

## What qualifies

| Item | Who can buy it tax free | How it relates to drainage |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Soaker or drip-irrigation hoses | Residential use only | Steady, even moisture near a slab in dry spells |
| Moisture controls for sprinkler or irrigation systems | Residential use only | Stops sprinklers running onto already wet ground |
| Mulch | Residential use only | Holds moisture in beds; keep it below the slab edge |
| Plants, trees and grasses | Residential use only | Turf holds soil in swales; trees near a slab draw moisture from one side |
| Products with a WaterSense label, such as landscape irrigation controls | Personal or business use | Smarter watering schedules |

The Comptroller’s list is the authority, and it can change, so check it before you shop. Rain barrels and compost did not appear on the most recent list we read.

## Why water-efficient products matter on clay

Drainage is usually about getting water away from a house. On Irving’s expansive clay, the goal is really even moisture. The USDA soil survey maps Ferris and Heiden clay in Las Colinas at about half clay particles, with a high shrink-swell rating. Clay like that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and a slab sitting on it is happiest when the soil under all sides stays about the same. Storms soak one side; summer dries all of it; trees pull water from whichever side they stand on. The [foundation moisture guide](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/foundation-moisture-clay-soil/) explains the pattern.

That makes a few of the tax-free items more useful than they look:

- **Soaker or drip hoses** laid a short distance from the slab, run on a schedule in long dry spells, keep foundation soil from drying unevenly. The aim is steady moisture, never water pooled against the wall.
- **Moisture controls and WaterSense irrigation controllers** stop a sprinkler system from watering ground that is already wet. A sprinkler zone that runs after a storm adds water to the same low spots drainage is trying to clear.
- **Grass and plants** hold soil in place in swales and on slopes, so a swale stays a swale instead of washing out.

## Two cautions

### Mulch and the slab

Mulch is good for beds, but every year’s top-up raises the bed. Over time it buries the slab edge and the weep holes in the brick, and it can hold water against the house. Keep finished mulch below the weep holes and the top of the slab, and keep the ground under it sloping away. The [slope guide](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/how-much-slope-for-yard-drainage/) shows the common target: about 6 inches of fall in the first 10 feet.

### Trees near the house

A tree planted close to a slab will draw moisture from that side as it grows. If you are buying trees during the holiday, give them room away from the foundation.

## What it does not cover

The holiday covers products, not drainage installation. Pipe, catch basins, channel drains and the labor to install them are taxed as usual. If your spring plan includes new beds, a patio or a regraded area, check how the change affects where water goes before you build; [regrading](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/yard-grading/) and [foundation drainage](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/foundation-drainage/) explain what to watch for.

## Before you shop

Make a quick plan: which beds sit against the house, where soaker lines would run, which sprinkler zones water the lowest parts of the lawn. If water already stands in parts of the yard after rain, fix that first; the [guide to fixing yard drainage](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/how-to-fix-yard-drainage-problems/) is the place to start, and the [estimate request](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/contact/) page takes a photo and an address.

## Get an estimate

Tell us where the water stands and send a photo. After a site visit, you get a written price.

[(469) 680-8773](tel:+14696808773)

## Guides

- [Foundation moisture on clay soil](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/foundation-moisture-clay-soil/)
- [How much slope for yard drainage](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/how-much-slope-for-yard-drainage/)
- [How to fix yard drainage problems](https://reinirvingdrainagecompany.com/guide/how-to-fix-yard-drainage-problems/)

## Planning yard work this spring?

Tell us what you are changing, and we will tell you how it affects drainage.