The back-to-school shopping season is well underway, and shoppers can expect to save more this weekend with the state's annual sales tax holiday.
Texas law exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies, fabric face masks and backpacks individually priced under $100 from sales tax during the holiday period.
Owned uniforms for school, nurses, police, fire, military, postal and other careers are also tax-free this weekend. Rented uniforms are still taxable.
The comptroller tweeted even costumes and masks are tax-free this year.
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Qualifying items can be purchased from a Texas store or from an online or catalog seller doing business in Texas. In most cases, you do not need to give the seller an exemption certificate to buy qualifying items as tax-free.
Tax-free shopping begins Friday at 12:01 a.m. and ends midnight Sunday in Texas stores and online.
The tax break does not extend to some items, such as jewelry, purses and luggage.
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There is a specific list of what is and isn't tax-free on the state comptroller's website. Click here for the full list.
You can expect to save about $8 for every $100 spent. The Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas Comptroller estimates that shoppers will save $112 million in sales taxes this weekend.
STOCKING UP BEGAN BEFORE TAX-FREE WEEKEND
Walmart tells NBC 5 that workers have already seen an influx of people school shopping and not waiting until the tax-free weekend. Many are stocking up and trying to spread out the cost impact.
"Right now, they're actually looking for value," said Sandra Bonsu with Walmart. "And what we've done is implement a whole lot of robots to help the price come down so that people can afford what they are looking for with prices going up and inflation and everything like that."
HOW TO STRETCH YOUR DOLLARS WHEN BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING
The Better Business Bureau says there are ways you can save during tax-free weekend and beyond.
Check around your home, you would be surprised what supplies you already stashed away in closets and drawers.
At the checkout ask about student discounts because there are often hidden discounts that aren't advertised.
Consider buying in bulk, all you need is one friend in the neighborhood who has Sam's Club or Costco membership. Think about pooling your money and saving big. Often laptops and electronics are also cheaper at big box stores.
Walmart tells us there has been an increase of teachers coming in early and buying bulk items, especially when they're on sale.
Consider shopping online for supplies, you might find deep discounts online, but make sure you are using a trusted and secure website.
"You really want to make sure that you trust the source, specifically with social media. We recommend that you don't click a link from social media to a site. You need to go directly to that site," said Amy Rasor with the Fort Worth Better Business Bureau.
