If you've all but finished your back-to-school shopping, or if you've procrastinated, you can still snag clothes, shoes, school supplies and backpacks and skip paying the sales tax.
The 2025 sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 8, and goes through midnight Sunday. The exemption only applies to qualifying items determined by the Texas Comptroller's office. For shoppers fulfilling online wishlists or retailer websites, exempt items are only exempted if the purchase is made Between 12:01 a.m. Friday and midnight Sunday. The timeframe also applies to shoppers who place orders for exempted items by phone.
Clothes and shoes
The list of clothes and shoes is large and available online, along with taxable items like ballet shoes and hair accessories. But here's a handy summary: If your student's school has a dress code that calls for a certain color of slacks, skirts, collared shirts and closed-toe shoes that cost less than $100, they are exempt from sales tax. Underwear, too. Shoes needed for sports? Some are exempt, but some are taxed.
And for parents who will be putting children in child care and early childhood programs, diapers are exempt. The state has exempted professional clothing, too.
School supplies
The sales tax holiday includes specific school supplies:
- Binders
- Blackboard chalk
- Book bags
- Calculators
- Cellophane tape
- Compasses
- Composition books
- Crayons
- Erasers
- Folders: Expandable, pocket, plastic and manila
- Glue, paste and paste sticks
- Highlighters
- Index cards and 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
For kits of school supplies that contain exempt items and taxable items, the taxability depends on the value of exempt or taxable items in it. If the value of the exempt items is more than the taxable ones, the kit is exempt. If the value of the taxable items is more than the exempt ones, then the kit is taxable. The state comptroller placed no limit on the quantity of school supplies in a kit.
If you're buying school supplies with a business account, you have to provide the cashier or manager with a correctly completed Form 01-339.
Backpacks
Backpacks sold in school supply sections of retailers are exempt if they cost less than $100. Framed backpacks, briefcases, gym bags and duffle bags are still taxable, as are purses and computer bags.
Sales tax weekend takes place just before public health departments recommend vaccines, and cloth and disposable fabric face masks meet the definition of an article of clothing and are exempt from sales tax during this weekend's sales tax holiday.
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and cbreeding@dentonrc.com.
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