Over the next couple of months some states will offer the opportunity for families to purchase back to school items, clothing and other essentials without having to pay sales tax.
“Make your list, take your
list and don’t break your
list,” Harper advises.
“This is an excellent opportunity to save on purchases you must make anyway,” said Michaela Harper, Credit Advisors Foundation Program Director.
With the cost of most everything on the rise “Look at the tax holiday as an extra 5 or 6 or 7 percent discount on the items you purchase” Harper advises. “But be budget wise when shopping. Make your list, take your list and don’t break your list. Watch the ads and plan the your route.”
Harper suggests shoppers first obtain a list of required supplies from the school, create a list with each child divided into needs and wants, inventory what you have remaining from last school year. “Decide where you can scrimp - plain spiral notebooks versus patterned ones since kids are going to write all over them anyway - and where you can”t, like backpacks as these endure steady abuse and the cost of one structurally-sound one will be made up by not having to replace it at full cost three times a year.”
Each state has its own rules. There may be limitations on types of products and cost caps. For example, Iowa’s sales tax holiday includes clothing and footwear having a selling price less than $100. While gloves such as dress, garden, leather and work gloves are included in the exempt list for the sales tax holiday, gloves for sports like baseball, batting, bicycle, golf and weightlifting are not and are considered taxable, in the Iowa program.
Some states include school supplies, computers, and even certain approved Energy Star Appliances or water efficient products. You will want to refer to the website of your state’s department of revenue listings.
If you must use a credit
card don’t over do it
and pay off the balance at
the end of the month.
We’ve included all the states that have set the dates for their programs this year. Some states have scaled back or cancelled their programs due to projected tax revenue shortfalls, while others simply don’t have a sales tax, so if you don’t see your state on the list you have a couple of questions to answer: 1) are you one of the “lucky ones” living in a state without sales tax 2) are you near enough to a state with a sales tax holiday to make it worthwhile to travel there to participate 3) can you research with your state department of revenue to see if they do indeed have an upcoming sales tax holiday that we missed?
Here is the listing of states and dates for the sales tax holidays:
Alabama, Aug 1- 3;
Connecticut, Aug 17-23;
District of Columbia, Aug 2-10, Nov 21- Dec 7;
Georgia, July 31- Aug 3, Oct 2- 5 (energy and water efficient products);
Iowa, Aug 1-2;
Louisiana, Aug1-2;
Massachusetts, check with state officials - normally 2nd week of August;
Missouri, Aug 1-3;
New Mexico, Aug 1-3;
North Carolina, Aug 1-3;
Oklahoma, Aug 1-3;
South Carolina, Aug 1-3;
Tennessee, Aug 1-3;
Texas, Aug 15-17;
Vermont, July 12-13, July 12-18 (Energy Star Appliances);
Virginia, Aug 1-3, Oct 10-13 (energy efficient products);
West Virginia, Sept 1-7 (energy efficient products only).
A final smart shopping tip from Harper for a sales tax holiday, “Pay cash. If you must use a credit card don’t over do and pay off the balance at the end of the month. You will loose all of your savings if you make your purchases on a credit card and pay only minimums over several months or years.”
