When Don Huffines took office as Texas comptroller on Aug. 1, he brought a background familiar to many in the Texas auto dealer community. A fifth-generation Texan, Huffines grew up in his family’s automobile business, beginning his career working at the family dealership for $2 an hour. His grandfather, J.L. Huffines, founded Huffines Motor Company in Denton in 1924, establishing a family legacy in the Texas automotive industry that continues today.

That early experience in the dealership business was followed by a career in real estate development, public policy and state government. In 1985, Huffines founded Huffines Communities and grew the residential development company into one of the largest in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The experience, he says, helped shape the private-sector perspective he now brings to state government.

Appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to fill the comptroller position after it was vacated, Huffines is seeking election to a full term in the November general election. As Texas’ chief financial officer, he oversees the state treasury and administers more than 100 taxes and fees, including the state’s motor vehicle sales and rental tax and sales taxes collected on behalf of local governments.

For Texas dealers, the Comptroller’s Office is a particularly important part of the state government. The agency’s administration of motor vehicle taxes, sales taxes and other business taxes can directly impact dealerships’ day-to-day operations, making the new comptroller’s approach to tax administration worth close watch.

Before becoming comptroller, Huffines served in the Texas Senate, where he developed a reputation as a strong advocate for taxpayers, government transparency, private property rights and limited government. He also became known for his efforts to uncover government waste and corruption.

As a state senator, Huffines uncovered a corruption scheme at a Dallas-area government agency with a $100 million annual budget. His investigation led to the agency’s abolition and helped trigger a federal bribery investigation that resulted in multiple convictions and prison sentences. Fighting waste, fraud and abuse remains a stated priority as comptroller.

That combination of private-sector experience, ties to the automotive business and focus on government efficiency provides context for one of Huffines’ first major initiatives as comptroller: the Taxpayer First Project, an effort to reform how Texas administers its tax laws.

Taxpayer First Project Seeks to Reform Tax Administration

One of Huffines’ most significant early initiatives is the Taxpayer First Project, a broad effort to change how the state administers its tax laws.

Announced in August, the initiative calls for greater fairness, transparency and consistency in the Comptroller’s Office. Huffines has specifically cited concerns about retroactive policy changes, confusing or inconsistently applied rules, slow refunds and an administrative hearings process he considers too cumbersome.

“Texans deserve fairness and transparency from their government,” Huffines said in announcing the initiative. “For too long, Texas businesses had to navigate unfair, retroactive policy changes, confusing rules that were inconsistently applied and painfully slow refunds when they overpaid their taxes.”

The Taxpayer First Project includes eight areas of reform:

• Streamline and modernize tax administration
• Clearly communicate policy through public rulemaking rather than internal directives
• End unfair retroactive policy changes
• Improve the administrative hearings process
• Expedite refunds owed to taxpayers
• Improve audit operations through modern technology
• Ensure a transparent and fair settlement process
• Decentralize case resolutions

For businesses that regularly interact with the Comptroller’s Office, the practical implications could be significant. Clearer rules can make it easier to determine how taxes should be collected and reported, while more predictable audit, hearing and settlement processes could reduce the uncertainty and administrative burden associated with resolving tax disputes.

Huffines has also begun reorganizing the Comptroller’s Office around those priorities. He launched a comprehensive performance review shortly after taking office to identify inefficiencies, evaluate business processes and vendor contracts, and look for opportunities to improve operations using private-sector best practices.

In September, he announced a new senior leadership team that includes business leaders, tax attorneys, investigators and career public servants. Huffines said the team shares his goal of running the agency with a private-sector mindset while fighting fraud, waste and abuse.

Listening to Texas Businesses

Huffines’ early actions also suggest that he intends to use input from businesses to shape tax policy.

In September, he hosted a roundtable with small-business owners, restaurant operators and physicians to hear how the state’s interpretation of its data-processing tax was affecting their businesses. Participants described the impact of taxes applied to fees paid to online marketplaces and delivery platforms.

The meeting was followed by a Sept. 30 executive order directing the Comptroller’s Office to remove certain marketplace and platform fees from the definition of taxable data-processing services. The change affects fees associated with online marketplaces, food delivery, short-term lodging, ride-hailing and other services.

The episode provides an early example of the approach Huffines has outlined for his administration: listen to businesses, review how a tax rule is applied and make changes when he believes the policy imposes an unfair burden.

That philosophy could be particularly relevant to Texas’ business community as the Comptroller’s Office continues to review its tax administration practices. For industries such as automotive retail, where businesses routinely interact with state tax and registration systems, the way those rules are interpreted and administered can have a meaningful effect on operations.

A Focus on Taxes, Efficiency and Economic Growth

Huffines has also made property tax relief a priority since taking office. He has argued that strong state and local revenues create opportunities for governments to reduce property tax burdens and has continued to call for reforms to make Texas more affordable for residents and businesses.

Meanwhile, the state’s overall tax collections remain strong. Texas collected $88.2 billion in taxes across all funds during fiscal year 2026, an increase of 4.8% over the previous year. Sales tax collections reached $52.2 billion, up 6.5%, while motor vehicle sales and rental tax collections increased 5.2% to $7.5 billion.

Those numbers underscore the scale of the comptroller’s responsibilities — and the importance of how the office manages its relationship with the businesses that generate much of the state’s revenue.

For Huffines, the early months of his tenure have centered on a straightforward premise: Government should make it easier, rather than harder, for Texans to comply with the law and operate their businesses.

With his first months in office focused on modernizing the Comptroller’s Office, improving tax administration and advocating for taxpayer relief, Huffines has laid out an agenda centered on efficiency, consistency and accountability. Voters will decide in November whether he will continue that work as Texas comptroller for a full term.