Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend
by July 31, 2015 11:05 am 96 views
Another school year starts in a few weeks and parents are likely to hit the stores this weekend to buy school supplies and clothes at a reduced rate.
The state of Arkansas is holding its annual sales tax holiday from 12:01 a.m. Saturday (Aug. 1) until 11:59 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 2).
According to the Department of Finance and Administration website, state and local sales tax are not collected on items that are:
- Clothing and footwear if the sales price is less than $100 per item
- Clothing accessories and equipment if the sales price is less than $50 per item
- School supplies
- School art supplies
- School instructional materials
Some of the items under the $100 rule include coats and jackets, lab coats, scarves, and belts and suspenders.
Among the items under the $50 rule include briefcases, wallets, watches and umbrellas while school supplies like calculators, lunch boxes, pens and pencils are exempt.
Also, instructional materials like globes and reference books are exempt from state and local sales tax. However, large ticket items like computers are not exempt under the law.
The holiday was created by the Arkansas legislature in 2011 through Act 757.
A retail trade industry official said the holiday has helped keep revenue in the state as well as helping local businesses.
“We were, at the time, an island. So people in the border cities were going to Oklahoma, they were going to Missouri, they were going to Memphis, they were going to Texas; and I know a lot of people were making weekends out of it,” Polly Martin, president of the Arkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants Association, told content partner KUAR this week.
A complete list of the items exempt under the sales tax weekend can be seen here, courtesy of our content partner, KATV Ch. 7.