Texas back-to-school tax-free weekend starts Friday: Here's what you should know

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FOX Local
Published August 5, 2026 9:49 AM CDT

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 18: The exterior of the Texas State Capitol on February 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • Texas' annual Sales Tax Holiday runs from Friday, Aug. 7, through midnight Sunday, Aug. 9, applying to in-store, online, and mail-order purchases.
    • Most clothing, footwear, school supplies, backpacks, and diapers priced under $100 per item are exempt from state and local sales tax.
    • State officials estimate families will save $142.5 million, though computers, textbooks, sports gear, and items priced at $100 or more remain taxed.

AUSTIN, Texas - Texans can save on back-to-school shopping as early as Friday, as the state's annual Sales Tax Holiday returns for the weekend.

During the holiday weekend, shoppers can buy many clothing items, school supplies and backpacks without paying state or local sales taxes.

When is the Texas Sales Tax Holiday?

What we know:

According to Texas Comptroller Don Huffines, the state expects families to save an estimated $142.5 million during the three-day tax holiday, which runs from Friday, August 7, through midnight on Sunday, August 9.

The sales tax exemption applies to qualifying items purchased in stores, online, by telephone or by mail, as long as the purchase is made during the tax holiday. Many qualifying items must be priced under $100 per item to be eligible.

FILE - A cashier scans school supplies for a customer at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif. (Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Qualifying tax-free Items

The tax holiday generally applies to:

  • Most clothing priced under $100, including shirts, pants, dresses, jackets, socks, school uniforms, pajamas and many types of shoes.
  • Most everyday footwear priced under $100, including sneakers, sandals, boots and dress shoes.
  • Student backpacks sold for less than $100
  • School supplies priced under $100, including notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, crayons, markers, binders, calculators, scissors, rulers, glue and lunch boxes.
  • Cloth and disposable baby diapers also qualify for the exemption.

What doesn't qualify?

Not every back-to-school purchase is tax-free. Items that generally do not qualify include:

  • Clothing or footwear costing $100 or more.
  • Computers, software and textbooks.
  • Jewelry, handbags, wallets, watches and other accessories.
  • Athletic or protective gear designed for a specific sport, such as football pads, baseball cleats and golf cleats.
  • Most luggage, briefcases, gym bags and computer bags.

Texas Sales Tax Holiday rules

Dig deeper:

A complete list of qualifying and non-qualifying clothing, footwear and school supplies is available at TexasTaxHoliday.org. The lists include hundreds of specific items to help shoppers determine whether a purchase qualifies for the tax exemption.

Shoppers can also receive the tax break on qualifying items placed on layaway during the holiday or when making the final payment on an existing layaway purchase.

According to the Texas Comptroller's office, if a retailer mistakenly charges sales tax on a qualifying purchase, shoppers can request a refund from the seller, according to the Comptroller's Office.

What they're saying:

"Since 1999, Texans have saved more than $2 billion on everything from coats to crayons and scissors to sneakers in preparation for the back-to-school bell," Huffines said in a statement.

The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Comptroller. 

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