Ballot Language:

The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation one motor vehicle owned by an individual and used in the course of the owner’s occupation or profession and also for personal activities of the owner.

HJR-54 History (enabling legislation is HB-1022)

This amendment clarifies the intent of the 79th Legislature’s HB-809, which was intended to provide tax exemptions for the personal vehicles of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and real estate agents which were used incidentally in the course of normal business. Certain tax appraisal districts continued to try and tax these vehicles, supported by Texas Attorney General Abbot’s opinion GA-4084.

House Bill 809, passed in the Seventy-ninth Legislature, codified at section 22.01(k) of the Tax Code, exempts cars and light trucks that are used in the course of the owner’s occupation or profession as well as for personal purposes from rendition for taxation, but that legislation did not establish that such personal property is exempt from taxation.

The new legislation limits the number of vehicles to one, thus addressing critics that contended that a person could claim a fleet as personal if they used each vehicle for personal reasons for short periods during the year.

BigJolly says: Enough already. The legislature’s intent was clear enough in 2005 but appraisers were quick to find a flaw in it to continue collecting revenue. This amendment fixes the problem. I’m voting for it.

Click to read comments for and against.

From the Texas Legislative Council Summary (note: 131 page pdf file):

Comments by Supporters: The proposed amendment would remedy inconsistency in the taxation of personal motor vehicles also used for the production of income. The proposed amendment and House Bill No. 1022 would allow the will of the legislature in enacting House Bill No. 809 in 2005 to have its desired effect.

Because the motor vehicles affected by the proposed amendment are already exempt from rendition for taxation, most of those vehicles go untaxed. Current law allows an appraiser to harass a property owner by taxing motor vehicles that are exempt from rendition. It is clear that the legislature exempted these vehicles from rendition with the intent to exempt them from taxation. Personal property that is exempt from rendition should be exempt from taxation as well. Moreover, it is difficult to identify and tax personal property, and exempting motor vehicles is consistent with Texas law exempting other items of personal property such as stocks, bonds, and bank accounts.

By limiting this exemption to one motor vehicle per individual owner the proposed amendment would allay concerns that a fleet of motor vehicles could be exempted from taxation by a person who uses each vehicle for personal use for a short time each year.

The proposed amendment would provide tax relief to overburdened real estate agents, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and other small business owners and contractors who use their personal vehicles for merely incidental commercial purposes. It is unfair to tax a vehicle that is predominantly for personal use.

Comments by Opponents: The proposed constitutional amendment would exempt from taxation many motor vehicles used in the production of income by their owners. Exempting such commercial property from taxation runs counter to the long-standing public policy in Texas that all personal property used for the production of income, including motor vehicles, be taxed. A vehicle used predominantly for business should not be exempt merely because it is used for occasional personal purposes.