Tax-Free Weekend is Friday-Sunday, Aug. 9-11, and features a great way for families and teachers to save before school starts.
The law exempts sales tax on qualified items – such as clothing, footwear, school supplies, and backpacks – priced below $100, saving shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend.
The exemption applies to each eligible item that sells for less than $100, regardless of how many items are sold on the same invoice to a customer.
For example, a customer could purchase two pairs of jeans for $60 each and end up with a total of $120, they would still retain the tax-exempt price and save about $16.
This includes most clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, and school supplies.
Textbooks, computers, and software are not tax-exempt.
There are some school supplies requested by teachers and various school districts like facial tissue, plastic baggies, hand sanitizer, and so forth that are not tax-exempt either.
Also, clothing items that require custom work, sports equipment, clothing rentals, and most accessories are not tax-exempt.
“Qualifying items can be purchased tax-free from a Texas store or from an online or catalog seller doing business in Texas,” reads the Comptroller’s website.
“In most cases, you do not need to give the seller an exemption certificate to buy qualifying items tax-free.”
Apparel and school supplies that may be purchased tax-free are listed on the Comptroller’s website at comptroller.texas.gov.
“The sales tax exemption applies only to qualifying items you buy during the sales tax holiday,” said the website.
“Items you buy before or after the sales tax holiday do not qualify for an exemption, and there is no tax refund available.”
