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Texas Constitution:Article VIII, Section 1 (view source)
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As adopted in 1876, this section read: "Taxation shall be equal and uniform. All property in this State, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law. The Legislature may impose a poll tax. It may also impose occupation taxes, both upon natural persons and upon corporations, other than municipal, doing any business in this State. It may also tax incomes of both natural persons and corporations, other than municipal, except that persons engaged in mechanical and agricultural pursuits shall never be required to pay an occupation tax; ''provided'', that two hundred and fifty dollars worth of household and kitchen furniture, belonging to each family in this State, shall be exempt from taxation, and provided further that the occupation tax levied by any county, city or town, for any year, on persons or corporations pursuing any profession or business, shall not exceed one-half of the tax levied by the State for the same period on such profession or business." | As adopted in 1876, this section read: "Taxation shall be equal and uniform. All property in this State, whether owned by natural persons or corporations, other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law. The Legislature may impose a poll tax. It may also impose occupation taxes, both upon natural persons and upon corporations, other than municipal, doing any business in this State. It may also tax incomes of both natural persons and corporations, other than municipal, except that persons engaged in mechanical and agricultural pursuits shall never be required to pay an occupation tax; ''provided'', that two hundred and fifty dollars worth of household and kitchen furniture, belonging to each family in this State, shall be exempt from taxation, and provided further that the occupation tax levied by any county, city or town, for any year, on persons or corporations pursuing any profession or business, shall not exceed one-half of the tax levied by the State for the same period on such profession or business." | ||
The section has been amended | The section has been amended fourteen times. All of those amendments have been approved since 1978. The most recent amendment made a conforming change related to the repeal of Article VIII, Section [[Texas Constitution:Article VIII, Section 24|24]]. | ||
The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2008/ga0653.pdf#page=3 GA-653] (2008), opined that: "Texas courts have long recognized that absolute equality and uniformity in taxation is an unattainable ideal and not required by the constitution. . . . Thus, article VIII, section 1(a) is satisfied when the tax classification is not unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious and when it operates equally on persons or property within the class." | The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2008/ga0653.pdf#page=3 GA-653] (2008), opined that: "Texas courts have long recognized that absolute equality and uniformity in taxation is an unattainable ideal and not required by the constitution. . . . Thus, article VIII, section 1(a) is satisfied when the tax classification is not unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious and when it operates equally on persons or property within the class." | ||