Residential moving services are not taxable in Texas. The state’s 6.25 percent sales tax does not apply to the loading, driving, and unloading a household mover does for you, and it does not apply to packing, crating, or short-term storage of your belongings either. What you will pay tax on are the physical supplies — boxes, tape, bubble wrap — and a few narrow extras like parking or storing a motor vehicle during the move.
What a Mover Can’t Charge You Tax On
Texas taxes services only when they appear on a specific list in the Tax Code. Moving, relocation, and the transportation of household goods are not on that list.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code TAX 151.0101 The Texas Comptroller has repeatedly confirmed the point in published rulings, classifying moving and relocating charges as not taxable, including the transportation of furniture, pianos, equipment, and artwork.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Subject Headings for Document 8909L0958G01
The non-taxable treatment extends past the drive itself. When a moving company packs your dishes, crates your artwork, disassembles a bed frame, or holds your goods in storage as part of the move, those services are also classified as non-taxable by the Comptroller.3Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Subject Headings for Document 9307041L Crating, assembly and disassembly, packing, and storage are grouped together under the heading of nontaxable moving-company services.2Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Subject Headings for Document 8909L0958G01 The key qualifier is that the mover has to perform the work as part of the move.
What You Will See Tax On
Boxes and Other Supplies
Every box, roll of tape, sheet of bubble wrap, and moving blanket is tangible personal property, and Texas taxes retail sales of goods.4Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sales and Use Tax That’s true whether you pick them up at a hardware store or buy them from the moving company. The Texas Administrative Code specifically lists wrapping paper, boxes, cartons, crates, tape, and similar packaging materials as taxable when sold to end users.5Legal Information Institute. Texas Code 34-3.314 – Wrapping, Packing, Packaging Supplies, Containers, Labels, Tags, Export Packers, and Stevedoring Materials and Supplies
The state rate is 6.25 percent. Local jurisdictions can add up to 2 percent more, so the combined rate on supplies can reach 8.25 percent depending on where you are.4Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sales and Use Tax
Motor Vehicle Parking or Storage
Storing household goods during a move is not taxed. Parking or storing a motor vehicle is a different category, and it is on the taxable-services list.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code TAX 151.0101 If you park a car, boat trailer, or similar vehicle in a storage facility during your move, expect sales tax on that charge. The Comptroller’s taxable-services publication confirms the category also covers parking decals, permits, valet, and impound fees.6Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Taxable Services
Why Your Invoice Needs to Be Itemized
How a mover writes up the bill can decide how much tax you actually pay. When taxable items (boxes) and non-taxable services (transportation, packing, storage of goods) sit on the same invoice, they need to be broken out as separate line items. If a mover rolls everything into one lump-sum price without separating the taxable and non-taxable components, the whole amount can end up getting treated as taxable.
Before you sign a contract or estimate, check that the paperwork will break out each of these separately:
- Transportation (loading, driving, unloading) — not taxable
- Packing, crating, assembly, and disassembly labor performed by the mover — not taxable
- Moving supplies sold to you — taxable
- Storage of household goods — not taxable; motor vehicle storage is taxable
If a mover won’t itemize, push back or go elsewhere. A clear breakdown protects you from overpaying and keeps the company on the right side of Comptroller rules.
Business and Office Moves Are Different
The residential answer doesn’t fully carry over to a commercial relocation. Texas taxes “real property services” and “real property repair and remodeling” as listed taxable categories.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code TAX 151.0101 Pure transportation of business furniture and equipment follows the same non-taxable logic as a household move. But if the job includes dismantling built-in shelving, reconfiguring cubicle systems attached to the building, or installing equipment into a new space, that work can cross into taxable real-property-service territory. Ask the mover to separate transportation from any installation or modification work on the invoice; the transportation side should not carry sales tax, while the installation side may.
Quick Reference
- Transportation of household goods: not taxable
- Packing and unpacking labor by a mover: not taxable
- Crating and uncrating: not taxable
- Furniture assembly and disassembly: not taxable
- Storage of household goods: not taxable
- Moving supplies sold to you: taxable, up to 8.25 percent
- Motor vehicle parking or storage: taxable
- Installation or modification of nonresidential property during a commercial move: potentially taxable as a real property service