EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – One of the great things about living in the El Paso and Las Cruces region is getting two opportunities to save some money when doing your back-to-school shopping for your kiddos.
If you are willing to do a little driving, you can take advantage of tax-free weekends in two states to help get your kids equipped for the new school year.
In New Mexico, the annual Back-to-School Tax-Free Holiday lasts from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2 and concludes at midnight on Sunday, Aug. 4.
The Texas Sales Tax Holiday begins Friday, Aug. 9 and goes through midnight Sunday, Aug. 11.
In New Mexico, you can save on having to pay gross receipts taxes on qualifying items. The gross receipts tax is New Mexico’s equivalent of the sales tax.
Generally, clothing and shoes must be priced at less than $100 per unit to qualify for the tax break, according to the NM Taxation and Revenue Department.
The price limit for desktop, laptop, tablet and notebook computers is $1,000 to qualify for the tax break and the limit is $500 for related computer hardware.
School supplies used in “standard, general-education classrooms” must be under $30 per unit to quality.
There are items in different categories that are specifically excluded. You can click here to learn more about tax-free weekend in New Mexico and what qualifies for the tax break.
In Texas, most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks (sold for less than $100) qualify for a break on sales tax during the Texas tax-free weekend.
You can save about $8 on every $100 you spend, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
“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,” said Comptroller Glenn Hegar of the sales tax holiday weekend, an annual event since 1999. “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.”
The comptroller’s office estimates that shoppers will save $143.4 million in state and local sales tax during this year’s sales tax holiday.
You can click here to learn more about tax-free weekend in Texas, including a list of qualifying items in different categories.
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