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To follow yesterday’s post on back to school deals, 16 states have planned tax free holidays for clothes, school supplies, and computers. BargainJack has a neat chart with the info, which I summarize below, and Time’s Moneyland blog has additional analysis. Here’s what you need to know:
Participating states: AL, AR, CT, FL, IA, LA, MA, MD, MI, NM, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA.
Tax-free dates: Most states’ tax-free shopping days are THIS WEEKEND Aug 5-7, though some are later in the month.
Limits: There are per-item cost limits, like $100 on clothing. So if you buy a fancy leather jacket that costs more than $100, it will be taxed. If you buy lots of little clothing items that add up to more than $100, no tax. Some of the limits are as low as $20 per item on school supplies, but Tennessee has a generous $1,500 limit on computers.
Bonus: There are discounts in some states for hurricane preparedness items and sports equipment.
I have to say that in light of the debt limit fiasco and ensuing stock market fall yesterday, should our government be covering taxes on items like this? Are we as a nation getting too accustomed to perks like this?
August 5th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
The sales tax exemption is from state sales taxes, not federal taxes. I do not see the connection with the “debt limit fiasco.”
August 6th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Missouri is participating and it is MO, not MI. MI is Michigan and Michigan is not participating.
August 11th, 2011 at 6:45 am
This is just the kind of information I was looking for! Thanks.
August 16th, 2011 at 3:01 am
[...] and Lauren Conrad’s LC. And don’t forget that many of these stores are participating in tax free shopping [...]