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eXpendit

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Miscellaneous Expenditures — Payments and Fees
Refunds

General Requirements

The Comptroller’s office may refund the amount of money collected or received by a state agency through mistake of fact or law and deposited in the state treasury. Money subject to refund includes:

  • Money not owed to the state.
  • Money collected or received that exceeds the amount required to be collected.

Example

An individual pays a licensing fee to a state agency on the assumption the individual will use the license or be eligible to receive the license, but does not actually use the license or is ineligible to receive the license.

A refund claim may not be paid if the claim:

  • Was made after four years from the latest date on which the amount collected or received by the state was due, if the amount was required to be paid on or before a particular date.
  • Was made after four years from the date the amount was collected or received, if the amount was not required to be paid on or before a particular date.

A person who fails to make a refund claim within the period provided above is not eligible to receive payment of the claim.

Definitions:

Person
Includes an individual, a corporation, an organization, a government or governmental subdivision or agency, a business trust, an estate, a trust, a partnership, an association and any other legal entity.

Sources [+]

Code Construction Act, Texas Government Code Section 311.005(2), 403.077; Opinion of Texas Attorney General No. WW-834 (1960).

Refund requirements of the General Appropriations Act [+]

  1. Fund from which refunds are made
    Money deposited into the state treasury legally subject to refund must be refunded from the fund into which the money was deposited, transferred or otherwise credited.

    Source: Article IX, Section 8.04(a) of the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

  2. Prohibition against refunds
    The Comptroller's office is prohibited from using funds appropriated by the GAA to approve refund claims, or pay refunds that exceed the amount of revenue estimated to be available from the tax, fee or other revenue source during the 2024-2025 fiscal biennium, according to the biennial revenue estimate the Comptroller's office used for certification of the GAA.

    A refund claim or any portion of a refund claim not paid under this paragraph must be presented to the next Legislature for a specific appropriation to pay the claim. This does not apply to any taxes or fees paid under protest.

    Source: Article IX, Section 8.04 of the General Appropriations Act.