Back-to-school shoppers to see savings during sales tax holiday

With a new school year starting as early as Tuesday for some Abilene students, parents across Texas are about to have chance to save on back-to-school shopping during the state's annual tax-free weekend.

Friday through Sunday, a variety of school-related items purchased from retailers in Texas will be exempt from sales tax, saving buyers about 8 percent of the purchase price.

The Texas program began in 1999, and the list of exempt items has grown. It is not specifically a back-to-school effort but the timing in August assists those shopping for the school year.

Exempt items include many types of clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks. Each item must be priced at less than $100 to qualify for the exemption.

Online and catalog purchases also can qualify for the tax holiday, as long as the seller is based in Texas. Layaway purchases made this weekend can be exempt, either by placing an item on layaway, or by making a final payment on an item already on layaway.

For subscribers:Is it time to update the back-to-school sales tax holiday to fit 21st century Texas?

A boost for business

For Texas retailers, the tax holiday provides a boost to the bottom line as shoppers return from summer vacations.

"It's going to be busy across all our stores," said Tyler Sumrall, spokesperson for Academy Sports + Outdoors, which has 106 stores in the state, include one in Abilene. "Tax-free weekend sort of kicks off back to school shopping."

Shoppers also can expect to see a number of other discounts and promotions= this weekend, said Sumrall, as retailers compete for the influx of customers.

With schools closed part of 2020 due to the pandemic, as well as a resulting drought in school-related shopping, hopes are high that sales will rebound this year as students return to classrooms.

"A lot of kids were remote, so a lot of kids are going to need new T-shirts, clothes and backpacks," Sumrall said.

"We're excited to get customers in the store."

Nathaniel Ellsworth is a general assignments reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

What's tax free?

School supplies: Binders, book bags, calculators, compasses, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, highlighters, index cards, legal pads, lunch boxes, markers (excluding dry erase), notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, protractors, rulers, scissors and writing tablets. School supply kits will be tax exempt if the value of the exempt items in the kit exceeds the value of the taxable items.

Clothing: Aprons, athletic socks, baby clothes, belts, blouses, boots (general, cowboy and hiking), bras, camp clothes, caps, children's novelty costumes, coats, coveralls, diapers, dresses, earmuffs, gloves, graduation caps and gowns, gym suits, hats, hooded shirts, hosiery, jackets, jeans, jerseys, jogging apparel, leg warmers, leotards and tights, neckwear, pants, panty hose, ponchos, raincoats, rain hats, religious clothing, robes, safety shoes, shawls, shirts, shoes (general, boat, cross trainers, dress, flip-flops, jellies, running, sandals, slippers, sneakers, tennis and walking), shorts, sleepwear, slips, socks, suits, suspenders, sweatshirts, sweaters, swimsuits, trousers, underclothes, uniforms, veils, vests (general, fishing and hunting), work clothes and workout clothes.

Backpacks: Student backpacks are tax exempt (backpacks with wheels, messenger bags, framed backpacks, luggage, briefcases, gym bags, computer bags and purses do not qualify).

Face masks: Cloth and disposable face masks are tax exempt (personal protective equipment, including industrial or medical grade masks, such as N95, do not qualify).

All above items must be under $100 to qualify as tax exempt.

What's not tax free?

School supplies: Computers, software, textbooks and other items not in the above list.

Clothing: Clothing rentals, clothing subscription boxes, specifically-designed athletic activity or protective-use clothing or footwear (such as football pads, golf cleats and baseball gloves), jewelry, wallets and watches.

For more information about what is tax exempt and what isn't, go to the Texas Comptroller website: comptroller.texas.gov.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Back-to-school shoppers to see savings during sales tax holiday