Sales tax holiday this weekend

With school districts around the state preparing to begin the 2024-2025 school year, the annual school sales tax holiday will take place this weekend.

The sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 9 and continues through midnight Sunday, Aug. 11. The holiday provides sales tax exemptions for school-related items priced $100 or less.

“For kits of school supplies that contain exempt items, as well as taxable ones, the taxability depends on the value of exempt or taxable items in it,” the comptroller’s website states. “There is no limit on the quantity of school supplies in a kit, but 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.”

During this time, items can be purchased tax free in-person, online or by phone and mail.

Purchases are exempt when they are delivered and paid for by the customer during the exemption period, or paid for and the seller accepts the order during the exemption period for shipment.

Eligible school supplies include book bags, calculators, binders, notebooks, crayons, folders, index cards, pencils, pens, rules and several other items. Tax-free items also include clothing, footwear and face masks.

For all eligible tax-exempt items, and more information, visit texastaxholiday.org.

The sales tax exemption applies only to qualifying items you buy during the sales tax holiday. Items you buy before or after the sales tax holiday do not qualify for exemption, and there is no tax refund available.

The sale of the item must take place during the specific period. The purchase date is easy to determine when the purchase is made in-store but becomes more complicated with remote purchases.

If a purchaser enters their credit card information in an online shopping website at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11 to purchase school supplies, but the supplies will not be shipped until Friday, Aug. 16, and will not arrive until Tuesday, Aug. 20, the purchase will qualify for the exemption.

However, if the charge to your credit card is declined by the payment processor at 11 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, and the purchaser does not resubmit payment until Monday, Aug. 12, the purchase is taxable.

Delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges by the seller are part of the item’s sales price.

Since clothing, backpacks and school supplies have to be less than $100 to qualify, you have to look at the item’s total sales price.

“For a quarter of a century, Texans have saved more than $1.8 billion on everything from blue jeans to ballpoint pens in preparation for the back-to-school bell,” Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said. “As the father of three, I know firsthand how these expenses add up over the years, and this weekend is the perfect time for folks to save some of their hard-earned cash on items they need.”