The States That Have a Tax Holiday for Back-to-School Shopping
With the start of the school year quickly approaching, American families have a lot of shopping to do. Even with back-to-school sales, it can be really costly to purchase a bunch of education materials and new clothes in a short period of time, potentially making it difficult to fit school expenses into a regular budget.
Some states try to ease the burden with a sales-tax holiday in the summer, so consumers can save some money on items they need to buy before school starts. In the next few weeks, 17 states will have tax holidays.
Of course, not paying sales tax doesn’t justify spending more than you can afford. It’s easy for things that incentivize spending — like coupons, rewards credit cards and breaks from taxes — to push you over your budget. It can be especially counterproductive if that overspending puts you in debt. Any interest you accrue on a purchase would likely outweigh the benefit of not paying sales tax on it. On top of that, paying off credit card debt is no picnic, and that debt can hurt your credit. (You can see where you stand by getting two free credit scores every 30 days on Credit.com.)
Still, these tax-free periods, when used strategically, can help people stay on budget for seasonal shopping. Here’s a general overview of states’ tax holidays this year, in order of when they occur. Keep in mind, not all municipalities participate and there are some exceptions. Each state has posted details on its website.
Mississippi
When: July 29 & 30
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item
Tennessee
When: July 29 to 31
What’s Covered: Clothing $100 or less per item; school supplies $100 or less per item; and computers $1,500 or less
Georgia
When: July 30 & 31
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item; school supplies less than $20 per item; and computers; computer components and software less than $1,000 per item
Iowa
When: Aug. 5 & 6
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item
Louisiana
When: Aug. 5 & 6
What’s Covered: This one differs from the others, so we’ll just quote the Louisiana Department of Revenue: “During these two days, purchases of most items of tangible personal property will be subject to only three percent state sales tax instead of the full five percent.”
Alabama
When: Aug. 5 to 7
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item; a single purchase of a computer or software of $750 or less; and books and school supplies of $50 or less per item
Florida
When: Aug. 5 to 7
What’s Covered: Clothing and certain accessories less than $60 per item; certain school supplies less than $15 per item
Missouri
When: Aug. 5 to 7
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item; school supplies less than $50 per purchase; computer software with a taxable value of $350 or less; computers less than $1,500; and graphing calculators $150 or less
New Mexico
When: Aug. 5 to 7
What’s Covered: Clothing less than $100 per item; computers less than $1,000; related computer hardware less than $500; and school supplies less than $30 per item
Ohio
When: Aug. 5 to 7
What’s Covered: Clothing $75 or less per item; school supplies $20 or less per item; and school instructional material priced at $20 per item or less
You can find the full list of states that have a tax holiday for back-to-school shopping on Credit.com.
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This article originally appeared on Credit.com.
Christine DiGangi is a reporter and editor for Credit.com, covering a variety of personal finance topics. Her writing has been featured on USA Today, MSN, Yahoo! Finance and The New York Times International Weekly, among other outlets. More by Christine DiGangi