
A dozen states will result in huge savings at the checkout for clothing and school supplies this weekend -- is it the one you live in?
Tomorrow will be the last day of a tax-free shopping weekend, but only if you live in one of these 12 states, meaning you could be getting big savings on clothing and school supplies.
These tax-free holidays allow parents to cut a chunk out of their back-to-school shopping budget, which can grow to many hundreds of dollars as they seek to get new fall outfits an supplies ranging from notebooks to backpacks to pencils, according to a USA Today report.
But only if you’re a resident of the following states: Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Otherwise, you’ll just have to pay the regular prices, which means eating that sales tax of between 5 and 10 percent in most cases.
If that doesn’t sound like a lot, in reality it is — especially since National Retail Federation spokesman Craig Shearman told USA Today that families are expected to spend $630 on back-to-school gear and supplies. At a 5 percent sales tax, that would amount to $30 in savings, and at 10 percent, it would be more than $60 in savings — a huge difference maker for low-income and even middle-class families on tight budgets who find it difficult to absorb that sudden giant blow to their budgets.
These tax holidays were invented for just that purpose: to help those struggling with ends meet still find a way to get the things their kids need to get ahead in school. Shearman said that the tax holiday is “literally about putting clothes on children’s backs,” according to the report.
Even if you’re not shopping for your kids this weekend, you may still be able to take advantage of the savings, but just remember that not everything will qualify for a sales tax break.
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