Texas shoppers can save a little money on back-to-school purchases this weekend as the state’s annual sales tax holiday gets underway.<\/p>\n
The tax-free weekend runs from Friday, August 7, through midnight Sunday the 9th. During that time, qualifying clothing, shoes, backpacks and school supplies can be purchased without state and local sales taxes.<\/p>\n
The big number to remember is $100. In most cases, an eligible item must be priced under $100 to qualify, but shoppers can buy as many qualifying items as they want.<\/p>\n
The exemption applies to purchases made at Texas retailers in stores and through qualifying online, phone or mail orders during the holiday.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of exclusions, however, including computers and some athletic gear. Delivery charges can also push an otherwise qualifying purchase over the $100 limit.<\/p>\n
Here’s a quick look at what is and isn’t covered during the Texas tax-free weekend.<\/p>\n
Items that qualify<\/p>\n
Most everyday clothing and footwear priced under $100 per item qualify for the sales tax exemption, including:<\/p>\n
Jeans
\nShirts and T-shirts
\nDresses
\nShorts
\nPants
\nJackets and coats
\nSchool uniforms
\nWork uniforms and scrubs
\nScout uniforms
\nSocks
\nUnderwear
\nSneakers
\nSandals
\nBoots
\nHiking boots
\nLeather shoes
\nSchool supplies that qualify<\/p>\n
Many common classroom supplies priced under $100 are also tax-free, including:<\/p>\n
Binders
\nNotebooks
\nComposition books
\nPens and pencils
\nMarkers
\nCrayons
\nHighlighters
\nFolders
\nPaper
\nRulers
\nErasers
\nGlue
\nScissors
\nPencil boxes and school supply boxes
\nBackpacks<\/p>\n
Most backpacks priced under $100 qualify for the exemption.<\/p>\n
Traditional school backpacks are included, but some specialty bags are not. Shoppers should check before buying athletic or travel bags that may look like backpacks but don’t qualify under the state’s rules.<\/p>\n
What is NOT tax-free<\/p>\n
Some expensive back-to-school purchases remain taxable even during the holiday. Items that don’t qualify include:<\/p>\n
Any otherwise eligible item priced at $100 or more
\nComputers and laptops
\nComputer software
\nTextbooks
\nComputer bags
\nHandbags and purses
\nWallets
\nWatches
\nJewelry
\nLuggage
\nBriefcases
\nDuffel bags
\nGym bags
\nFramed backpacks
\nClothing subscription boxes
\nSpecially designed athletic clothing or footwear
\nProtective clothing or footwear
\nClothing alterations
\nClothing cleaning services
\nMaterials used to make or repair clothing <\/p>\n
Texas’ tax free weekend ends at midnight Sunday, August 9. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas shoppers can save a little money on back-to-school purchases this weekend as the state’s annual sales tax…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,66,223,27],"class_list":["post-400083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-local","tag-news","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}