SANTA FE — Coming soon to a retail store near you is the annual New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax Holiday.
For anyone with school-age children, it’s nothing short of a bonanza. For the weekend, the state suspends the collection of gross receipts taxes on sales of qualifying items so that individuals can buy these items tax-free.
Because many merchants also absorb the tax on a number of non-qualifying items, the public is the beneficiary all around.
The tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 5, and concludes at midnight Sunday, Aug. 7. During that time, the law provides a deduction from gross receipts for retail sales of qualifying tangible personal property.
Visit www.tax.newmexico.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/FYI-203.pdf to view a list divided into categories, but note that, within some categories, there is a set dollar maximum. To qualify for the deduction, clothing or shoes must be priced at less than $100 per unit.
The price limit for desktop, laptop or notebook computers and tablets is $1,000; for related computer hardware, it is $500. School supplies for use in standard, general-education classrooms must be under $30 per unit. There are items specifically excluded by statute in all categories. Those items are always taxable.
For more specific information on the legislation, definitions, types of sales, (rain checks, exchanges, refunds, gift cards, layaways, Internet, mail order and telephone sales), see the URL above.
