Tax break holiday with school looming

The annual New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax Holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6, and concludes at midnight Sunday, Aug. 8, the state Taxation and Revenue Department said on its.

“For that weekend the state suspends collection of gross receipts tax on sales of qualifying items so you can buy the items tax free. Because many merchants also absorb the tax on a number of non-qualifying items, you are the beneficiary all around,” the department says.

The law limits the tax-holiday deduction to the following:

• Clothing or shoes sold for less than $100. Accessories and special clothing or footwear primarily designed for athletic activity or protective use and not normally worn beyond the scope of the athletic activity or protective use remain taxable;
• Desktop, laptop, notebook or tablet computers sold for no more than $1,000; and any accessories, such as a monitor, speaker or set of speakers, printer, keyboard, microphone or mouse sold for no more than $500, and
• School supplies students normally use in a standard classroom for educational purposes and prices at under $30 per unit, including notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, bookbags, backpacks, handheld calculators, maps and globes. It does not include watches, radios, compact disc players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable desktop telephones, copiers, office equipment, furniture or fixtures. The law does not consider such items to be school supplies.

The tax-free holiday was established by the 2005 New Mexico Legislature.

Visit www.tax.newmexico.gov/news-alerts/tax-holiday.