When is tax free weekend in Texas? Here's what you need to know

Trish Long, El Paso Times
Updated ·3 min read
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Back-to-school shopping season will be here before you know it. Parents can ease the burden by taking advantage of the Texas tax-free weekend Aug. 11-13.

Shoppers can avoid paying the 8.25% in sales tax on select items.

El Paso Independent School District will start the school year on Aug. 7, while San Elizario, Ysleta, and Socorro Independent School Districts will begin on July 31.

Customers can buy qualifying items in-store, online, or by telephone. The sale of the items must occur during the specific dates of the Sales Tax Holiday.

School supplies.
School supplies.

Items must be under $100 to qualify for the exemption and must be purchased during the tax-free dates.

All delivery, shipping, handling, and transportation charges are part of the product's sales price, meaning it's all tax free.

Since items must be under $100 to qualify, Texans must factor the product's total sales price to see if it qualifies for exemption. For example, if a pair of jeans is $95 with a $10 delivery fee, the total would be $105 and therefore not tax-free.

For a complete list of what qualifies for the tax exemption and what doesn't, visit the Texas Comptroller's website.

School supplies to buy during tax-free weekend 2023

In addition to shoes, clothes, swimsuits and jackets, these school supplies qualify for tax exemption, according to the Texas Comptroller's website:

  • Binders

  • Blackboard chalk

  • Book bags

  • Calculators

  • Cellophane tape

  • Compasses

  • Composition books

  • Crayons

  • Erasers

  • Folders

  • Glue, paste and paste sticks

  • Highlighters

  • Index cards

  • Index card boxes

  • Legal pads

  • Lunch boxes

  • Markers (including dry-erase markers)

  • Notebooks

  • Paper – loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper

  • Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes

  • Pencil sharpeners

  • Pencils

  • Pens

  • Protractors

  • Rulers

  • Scissors

  • Writing tablets

What's not included during tax-free weekend in Texas

Some items are excluded from the tax-free holiday, meaning you'll still have to pay taxes when you buy. According to the Texas Comptroller's website, these items are not included:

  • Accessories, including hair stuff, purses, jewelry, sunglasses and watches

  • Sports equipment, including cleats, pads and ballet shoes

  • technology

  • Clothing repair, including alterations and monogramming services

More information on New Mexico tax-free weekend

New Mexico's annual back-to-school tax holiday is set to start on Aug. 4. Many back-to-school items will be eligible to purchase from 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 4 through midnight on Aug. 6.

Items included are:

  • Clothing or shoes sold for less than $100; however, accessories and special clothing or footwear primarily designed for athletic activity or protective use and not normally worn beyond the scope of the athletic activity or protective use remain taxable.

  • Desktop, laptop, notebook, or tablet computers sold for no more than $1,000 and associated monitor, speaker or set of speakers, printer, keyboard, microphone, or mouse sold for no more than $500.

  • School supplies students normally use in a standard classroom for educational purposes.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: When is Texas tax-free weekend 2023? Details about shopping event