Today through Sunday, East Texans will be saving the tax on many tax exempt items as they do their back to school shopping.  The crowds at the mall and area shopping centers are very reminiscent of black Friday sales right after Thanksgiving.  Broadway in Tyler and McCann and the Loop in Longview are expected to be very congested throughout the weekend as traffic increases.

This weekend is the Texas Tax Free Weekend where consumers will not have to pay the sales tax on many items they have to buy for the kids returning to school.  Things like school supplies, shoes, clothing, backpacks and more are exempt from taxes.  The current tax rate in the state of Texas is around 8% so that translates into an $8 savings for every $100 you spend on back to school items.

That doesn’t sound like a lot of money to me, but retailers are running big ads and savings to lure shoppers into their stores this weekend.  Now, I’m not a really big shopper and I don’t really like waiting in long lines at the check-out counters to save $8 if I’ve spent $100.  I’d rather be doing something else than fighting traffic, lines and groups of people fighting over clothes and other things.

On the flip side though, I do realize that times are tough for many East Texas families (as we have to watch our money too because we are on a budget) and everyone these days are looking for a way to save money and this weekend is a perfect weekend to do that.

In addition to saving the tax this weekend, I’ve come up with some additional ways to save money for back to school with a little help from the East Texas Better Business Bureau.

Check out what items are tax exempt this weekend.


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