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Tax Holidays Help Cut Back-To-School Expenses, CCH Says
(RIVERWOODS, ILL., JULY 23, 2003) Consumers in nine states can take
advantage of back-to-school tax holidays to purchase items such as clothing,
school supplies and computers without paying sales tax, according to CCH
INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of tax information and software (cch.com).
"An August tax holiday has become a fixture in some states tax
systems, but the idea has not yet caught on nationwide", according to Ken
Traisman, J.D., state tax analyst for CCH. "In fact, while some states are
adding tax holidays, others are dropping them."
Arguments in favor of the holidays include relief for families of modest
means facing back-to-school expenses and stimulating retail sales. Opponents of
the tax-free periods question the extent of the benefit for typical families and
characterize the holidays as "gimmicks."
- Although the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania have
offered tax holidays in the past, back-to-school purchases receive no
special treatment in these jurisdictions this year.
- Vermont offers a holiday for the first time this year, for computer
purchases.
- The Missouri legislature recently enacted a sales and use tax holiday for
certain school-related items, but it will only be available in 2004.
- New York has set aside its permanent sales tax exemption for clothing and
footwear under $110 until May 1, 2004 and has replaced it with a one-week
holiday at the end of August, with another one-week holiday scheduled for
the end of January next year.
Where and When to Save
Attention shoppers! The following states have sales tax holidays in place for
August 2003.
|
State |
Holiday Dates |
Items Covered
|
|
Connecticut |
Aug. 17 23 |
Most items of clothing and footwear costing less than $300. (Items of
clothing and footwear costing less than $75 are exempt year-round.)
|
|
Georgia |
July 31 Aug. 3 |
Clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100 or less per item and
school supplies with a sales price of $20 or less per item. Also, first
$1,500 of the sales price of a single purchase of a personal computer and
personal computer-related accessories.
|
|
Iowa |
Aug. 1 2 |
Certain articles of clothing or footwear that have a selling price of
less than $100.
|
|
New York |
Aug. 26 Sept. 1 |
Clothing and footwear items under $110.
|
|
North Carolina |
Aug. 1 3 |
Clothing, footwear, and school supplies costing $100 or less per item;
sports and recreation equipment costing $50 or less per item; computers,
printers, printer supplies and educational software costing $3,500 or less
per item.
|
|
South Carolina |
Aug. 1 3 |
Clothing, school supplies, computers and printers.
|
|
Texas |
Aug. 1 3 |
Most clothing and footwear with a selling price of less than $100.
|
|
Vermont |
Aug. 9 11 |
New or used single-processor desktops, laptops or notebook computers
selling for $4,000 or less. (Clothing and footwear with a selling price of
$110 or less and not primarily for athletic use is exempt year-round.)
|
|
West Virginia |
Aug. 1 3 |
Purchases under $100 per item for certain clothing, clothing
accessories, computer accessories and school supplies; purchases of
computers under $750. |
In addition to the states noted above, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have at least a limited year-round sales tax
exemption for clothing.
About CCH INCORPORATED
CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in
1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their
clients. CCH is a Wolters Kluwer company. The CCH Federal and State Tax group is
at tax.cchgroup.com.
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