Is Your State Offering a Tax Holiday?
Here's a chart that makes it easy to find out if your state is offering to let sales taxes slide for back-to-school and other purchases.
When you’re doing your back to school shopping, every little bit helps. Looking for coupons and deals is obviously one way to save. That’s why we have an entire section of our site devoted to deals – deals of the day, links to dozens of websites that specialize in daily bargains; even a coupon/deal search engine.
Another way to find simple savings is to avoid paying sales taxes. You can obviously do that on any number of websites that don’t have a physical presence in your state, but you can also take advantage of state “tax holidays” – a time when many states allow you to buy certain things in limited quantities without paying sales tax.
We got the table below from this page of the Federation of Tax Administrator’s Website. It’s also a good place to compare things like state sales taxes and income tax rates from state to state.
2010 Tax Holidays
| State | Days | Items Included | Maximum Cost | 1st Year | 2010* Dates | Information Links * |
| Alabama | 3 | clothing – $100 computers – $750 school supplies – $50 books – $30 | 2006 | August 6-8 | http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/ | |
| Connecticut | 7 | clothing and footwear – $300 | 2001 | August 15-21 | http://www.ct.gov/ | |
| Florida | 3 | clothing & Books- $50 school supplies – $10 | 2010+ | August 13-15 | http://dor.myflorida.com/ | |
| Illinois | 10 | clothing, footwear & school supplies – $100 | 2010 | August 6-15 | http://www.revenue.state.il.us | |
| Iowa | 2 | clothing – $100 | 2000 | August 6-7 | http://www.iowaccess.org/tax/ | |
| Louisiana | 2 | all TPP – $2,500 | 2007 | August 6-7 | http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/ | |
| Louisiana | 2 | hurricane preparedness items – $1,500 | 2008 | May 29-30 | http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/ | |
| Louisiana | 3 | firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies | 2009 | September 3-5 | http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/ | |
| Maryland | 7 | clothing & footwear – $100 | 2010 | August 8-14 | http://www.comp.state.md.us/ | |
| Maryland | 3 | energy star products | 2011 | Feb. 19-21, 2011 | http://www.comp.state.md.us/ | |
| Massachussets | 2 | TPP – $2,500 | 2008 | August 14-15 | -has not been signed by governor. | |
| Mississippi | 2 | clothing & footwear – $100 | 2009 | July 30-31 | http://www.dor.ms.gov/ | |
| Missouri | 7 | energy star products – $1,500 | 2009 | April 19-25 | http://www.dor.mo.gov/tax/ | |
| Missouri | 3 | clothing – $100 computers – $3,500 school supplies – $50 | 2004 | August 6-8 | http://www.dor.mo.gov/tax/ | |
| New Mexico | 3 | clothing – $100 computers – $1,000 school supplies – $15 | 2005 | August 6-8 | http://www.tax.newmexico.gov/ | |
| North Carolina | 3 | clothing – $100 school supplies – $100 instructional material – $300 computers – $3,500 other comp. – $250 sports equip – $50 | 2001 | August 6-8 | http://www.dornc.com/ | |
| North Carolina | 3 | energy star products | 2009 | November 5-7 | http://www.dornc.com/ | |
| Oklahoma | 3 | clothing – $100 | 2007 | August 6-8 | http://www.tax.ok.gov/ | |
| South Carolina | 3 | clothing school supplies computers other | 2000 | August 6-8 | http://www.sctax.org/ -list of qualifying products -FAQ | |
| South Carolina | 2 | guns, rifles & handguns | 2008 | November 26-27 | http://www.sctax.org/ | |
| Tennessee | 3 | clothing – $100 school supplies – $100 computers – $1,500 | 2006 | August 6-8 | http://tn.gov/revenue/ | |
| Texas | 3 | clothing, backpacks and school supplies- $100 | 1999 | August 20-22 | http://www.window.state.tx.us/ | |
| Texas | 3 | energy star products air conditioners – $6,000; other – $2,000 | 2008 | May 29-31 | http://www.window.state.tx.us/ | |
| Vermont | 1 | Personal Purchase – $2,000 | 2008 | March 6 | http://www.state.vt.us/tax/ | |
| Virginia | 7 | hurricane preparedness items – $60 generators – $1,000 | 2008 | May 25-31 | http://www.tax.virginia.gov/ | |
| Virginia | 3 | clothing – $100 school supplies – $20 | 2006 | August 6-8 | http://www.tax.virginia.gov/ | |
| Virginia | 4 | energy star products – $2,500 | 2006 | October 8-11 | http://www.tax.virginia.gov/ | |
| West Virginia | 7 | energy star products – $5,000 | 2008 | September 1 – November 30 | http://www.wvtax.gov/ | |
* dates are for calendar year 2010, as of August 3, 2010. Some state have not published 2010 information on their website; old information may be provided in the links for these states.
** Holiday will only be allowed in years where the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors certifies sufficient revenue growth.
+ Florida first held a sales tax holiday for school supplies in 2007. This was not re-enacted in 2008-09.
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