Tax free weekend starts on Friday

This Friday, August 2 through Sunday, parents can take advantage of the Back-to-school tax-free holiday.

This weekend, the state suspends the collection of gross receipts tax on sales of qualifying items so you can buy the items tax-free. Often, merchants also absorb the tax on a number of non-qualifying items, which also benefits back-to-school shoppers.

The tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August 2 and concludes on Sunday, August 4, at midnight.

During that time, the law provides a deduction from gross receipts for retail sales of qualifying tangible personal property, in effect allowing the retailer to sell the items “tax-free.”

According to the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue website, clothing or shoes must be priced at less than $100 per unit to qualify for the deduction. The price limit for desktop, laptop, tablets or notebook computers is $1,000, and for related computer hardware it is $500. School supplies for use in standard, general-education classrooms must be under $30 per unit.

School supplies students typically use in a standard classroom for educational purposes will be tax-free. The law explicitly lists notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, maps, and globes as deductible during the tax holiday.

The law excludes watches, radios, compact disc players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable desktop telephones, copiers, office equipment, furniture and fixtures. It does not consider such items to be school supplies that students typically use.