business
2025 Texas Tax-Free Weekend: Dates and Eligible Items
The state's annual sales tax holiday is less than a month away. Here's a list of qualifying school supplies and clothes to buy before classes resume.
Published July 8, 2025 at 2:27pm by Alexis Simmerman
Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, it's time to start thinking about returning to school.
To help students, teachers and parents prepare for the back-to-school transition, Texas' tax-free weekend offers savings on school supplies and clothes. This special weekend is now one month away — mark your calendars so you don't miss it!
When is the 2025 tax-free weekend in Texas?
This year's sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 8 and runs through midnight Sunday, Aug. 10. Qualifying items will be exempt from sales tax when purchased within this period.
LIST: Tax-free items in Texas
Most shoes, clothes and school supplies under $100 will be tax-free over the weekend. Shoppers have no limit on the number of eligible items they can purchase.
The Texas comptroller lists the following school-related items that will be tax-free:
School supplies
- Binders
- Blackboard chalk
- Book bags
- Calculators
- Cellophane tape
- 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
Clothing, footwear and other items
- Shirts and blouses
- Pants and jeans
- Dresses and skirts
- Jackets and coats
- Shoes, boots and sandals
- Socks, hosiery and underwear
- Sleepwear
- Hats and caps
- Scarves and gloves
- Uniforms (sports, scouts, etc.)
What will not be tax-free?
- Items sold for $100 or more
- Clothing subscription boxes
- Specially designed athletic activity or protective-use clothing or footwear
- Items used to make or repair clothing, such as fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, snaps, hooks and zippers
- Jewelry, handbags, purses, briefcases, luggage, umbrellas, wallets, watches and other accessories
- Computers
- Software
- Textbooks
- Framed backpacks
- Athletic, duffle or gym bags
- Computer bags
Does Texas tax-free weekend apply online?
This weekend, qualifying itemscan be purchased in-store, online, by mail or by any other method, as long as the sale occurs within the designated three-day period.
For instance, if a buyer enters their credit card information on an online shopping website at 5 p.m. on Aug. 10 to buy qualifying school supplies, the purchase will still qualify for the exemption even if the items are shipped on Aug. 15 and arrive on Aug. 19.
What's on your school supply list?
TeacherLists, a digital platform for school supply lists, has partnered with H-E-B locations throughout Texas to provide these lists in-store.
Not near an H-E-B? Several other retailers provide school supply lists, including Walmart, Target, Staples, Office Depot and Walgreens.
Can't find your child's school supply list? Reach out to your school district.
How to request a sales tax holiday refund in Texas
If you pay sales tax on qualifying items during the sales tax holiday, you can request a refund from the seller. The seller can either issue the refund directly or provide you with Form 00-985, Assignment of Right to Refund, which allows you to file the refund claim directly with the Texas Comptroller's Office.