By Sen. Royce West
With the Summer break winding down and the start of school just weeks away, Texas shoppers and parents can once again look to take advantage of the sales tax holiday. Since 2002, parents have been able to purchase school clothes and other items including footwear, free of sales tax charges – a nice break during back-to-school shopping, particularly for families with more than one child.
There’ll be two notable changes in this year’s sales tax holiday. Legislation passed last year moved the annual event back a few weeks to the third weekend, August 20 – 22, to more closely align with the August 23 start of classes for most Texas schools. In previous years, the tax holiday took place over the first weekend of August.
Last year’s revisions will now also allow school supplies, including backpacks, to be purchased sales tax-free. Now add folders, binders, calculators, composition books, lunch boxes, markers and highlighters to the list of school-kid staples that can be bought without the added 8 cents.
School district’s decisions to adopt standardized dress (uniform) policies has helped parents with the costs of schooling. But remember, should kids have visions of sporting the latest editions of Air Jordan’s or Kobe’s Nike line on the first day, there’ll be no tax break on items that cost more than $100. And while some may be indifferent to a small savings of 8 cents on the dollar, the ledger will show many of the kids who attend school in Texas, including those from Dallas, Irving, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lancaster, Garland, and even Mesquite and Richardson come from families considered low-income by federal guidelines. So every bit of savings helps.
Below is a listing of clothing items and school supplies that can be purchased free of sales tax charges from August 20-22.
Clothing
• Baby clothes
• Backpacks for use by elementary and secondary students
• Belts with attached buckles
• Boots – cowboy, hiking
• Caps/hats – baseball, fishing, golf, knitted
• Coats and wraps
• Diapers – adult and baby
• Dresses
• Gloves (generally)
• Gym suits and uniforms
• Hooded shirts and hooded sweatshirts
• Hosiery
• Jackets
• Jeans
• Jerseys – baseball and football
• Jogging apparel
• Neckwear and ties
• Pajamas
• Pants and trousers
• Raincoats and ponchos
• Robes
• Shirts
• Shoes – sandals, slippers, sneakers, tennis, walking
• Socks (including athletic)
• Shorts
• Suits, slacks, and jackets
• Sweatshirts
• Sweat suits
• Sweaters
• Swimsuits
• Underclothes
• Work clothes and uniforms
School Supplies
• Binders
• Book bags
• Calculators
• Cellophane tape
• Blackboard chalk
• Compasses
• Composition books
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Folders; expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila
• Glue, paste and paste sticks
• Highlighters
• Index cards
• Index card boxes
• Legal pads
• Lunch boxes
• 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
