Via State

Senator Rodney Ellis

Since the creation of the sales tax holiday, Texans have saved $700.5 million.

In 1999, I authored major tax relief legislation which created the three-day sales tax holiday, eliminated the sales tax on over-the-counter medicines, and cut some business taxes. The tax holiday is designed to give hard-working Texans a tax break on necessities such as back-to-school clothing. In addition to clothes, footwear, and some backpacks, Texas families also get a sales tax break on most school supplies priced at less than $100, purchased for use by a student in an elementary or secondary school.

Texas has one of the highest combined sales tax rates in the United States at 8.25 percent. According to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, Texas has the fifth most regressive tax system in the nation. High sales taxes hit low-income and elderly Texans the hardest, forcing our low-income citizens to pay up to six times more of their income in sales taxes than more affluent Texans. In fact, while the top 20 percent on the income scale pay less than 3.4 percent of their family income in sales taxes, the bottom 20 percent pay a whopping 8.5 percent. The sales tax holiday helps alleviate some of the burden by giving all Texans the opportunity to buy socks, shoes, jeans, shirts, skirts, sweaters and other back-to-school necessities tax-free.

2013 Sales Tax Holiday, August 9-11

All inclusive list of qualifying school supplies and other items (if priced less than $100).

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 (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