More than one dozen states across the U.S. now offer sales tax holidays, days where shoppers can stock up on essentials like clothing and school supplies without paying any extra to Uncle Sam. The programs are typically offered over a weekend, often in conjunction with the beginning of the school year. In southern states that offer tax holidays on hurricane preparedness items, the timing may coincide with the beginning of the hurricane season.
The following states currently offer some type of sales tax holiday, according to the website for the Federation of Tax Administrators. The time frame for the holiday varies greatly, in terms of the length of the holiday and the time of year in which it is scheduled. If the holiday says 2 days for the weekend then it is Saturday and Sunday and if it shows 3 days for the weekend then it is Friday through Sunday. These figures were updated in June 2012:
The first tax holiday was established in Texas in 1999, to ease the burden on parents buying school supplies for their children. North Carolina was the next state to hop onboard the tax holiday bandwagon, followed by the rest of the states on this list. The most recent states to implement a tax-free holiday are Arkansas and Maryland, which made their holidays official in 2011.
Another state that had previously been on this list, Georgia, has skipped tax holidays since 2010, after facing a large budget shortfall in the state. According to a report at USA Today, Georgia’s tax holiday in 2009 cost the state more than $13 million in lost revenue. Other states that continue to offer tax holidays despite current budget woes believe the reprieve stimulates the local economy and may even provide an incentive for homeowners to move to the state. Retailers support the move as well; saying even the temporary incentive to buy is enough to provide economic stimulation, with relatively low cost to state government.
This post was published on June 19, 2012