Sales, Use and International Tax Activity Update - July 2009

Holiday Season is All Year When it Comes to Tax

States are giving tax breaks on various items on a particular Sales Tax Holiday. This year, seventeen states are offering sales tax free shopping during a limited period of time. That’s one state less then the 2008 Holiday Sales Tax schedule. Massachusetts is the only state that has not continued its Sales Tax Holiday enactment from 2008.

There are typically three major types of sales tax holidays:

• Hurricane preparedness
• Clothing and school supplies
• Energy efficient appliances

Hurricane preparedness sales tax holidays usually occur in late April or May, and they last from a day to about a week long. Such exempt items include portable generators and storm preparedness items.

Clothing and school supplies Sales Tax Holidays occurs just before school starts, and are usually in August. The exemption on clothes includes restricting tax-free purchases by price, and most states have specific product lists of eligible items.

Energy efficient appliances are generally in the winter and run for the longest time periods, with West Virginia offering two months free of sales tax. These exempt items are generally energy efficient appliances that are Energy Star certified.

For those gun-toting Lone Stars, South Carolina is taking a shot at offering a 6% tax free for purchases of handguns, shotguns, and rifles on November 27-28, a blast for Thanksgiving get together. (no pun intended)

The states below are participating in the 2009 Sales Tax Holiday. Please contact the States’ Departments of Revenue to get full explanations of the products that qualify for the Sales Tax Holiday in each state.

Alabama- August 7-9: clothing with sales price of $100 or less per item; single purchases, with a sales price of $750 or less, of computers, computer software, school computer equipment; noncommercial purchases of school supplies, school art supplies, and school instructional materials with sales price of $50 or less per item; noncommercial book purchases with sales price of $30 of less per book.

Connecticut - August 16-22: clothing and footwear (not accessories or athletic or protective) costing less than $300 per item.

District of Columbia - August 1-9 and November 27-December 6: clothing, footwear, accessory items, and school supplies costing $100 or less per item.

Georgia - July 30-Aug. 2: noncommercial purchases of school supplies (up to $20 per item), clothing or footwear ($100 or less per article or pair), and personal computers and related accessories (single purchases of $1,500 or less).

Oct. 1-4: noncommercial purchases of energy efficient products and water efficient products with a sales price of $1,500 or less per product.

Iowa - August 7-8: clothing and footwear (not accessories, rentals, athletic or protective) with sales price of less than $100 per item.

Louisiana - May 24-25: first $1,500 of sales price of hurricane preparedness items. Excludes items purchased at airports, hotels, convenience stores, or entertainment complexes.

August 7-8: first $2,500 of sales price of noncommercial purchases (not leases) of items of tangible personal property (not vehicles or meals).

Mississippi - July 31--August 1: clothing or footwear (not accessories, rentals, or skis, swim fins, or skates) with sales price under $100 per item.

Missouri - August 7-9: noncommercial purchases of clothing (not accessories) with taxable value of $100 or less per item; school supplies up to $50 per purchase; computer software with taxable value of $350 or less; computers and computer peripherals up to $3,500.

New Mexico - August 7-9: footwear and clothing (not accessories or athletic or protective clothing) with sales price of less than $100 per item; school supplies; computers with sales price of $1,000 or less per item; and computer peripherals with sales price of $500 or less per item.

North Carolina - August 7-9: clothing (not accessories or protective equipment) and school supplies with sales price of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials with sales price of $300 of less per item; sport/recreational equipment with sales price of $50 or less per item; computers with sales price of $3,500 or less; computer supplies with sales price of $250 or less per item.

November 6-8: noncommercial purchases of specified Energy Star qualified products.

Oklahoma - August 7-9: items of clothing and footwear (not accessories, rentals, athletic, or protective) with sales price of less than $100.

South Carolina - August 7-9: clothing (not rentals), clothing accessories, footwear, school supplies, computers, printers, printer supplies, computer software, bath wash clothes, bed linens, pillows, bath towels, shower curtains, bath rugs.
November 27-28: handguns, shotguns, and rifles.

Tennessee - August 7-9: clothing (not accessories), school supplies, and school art supplies with sales price of $100 or less per item; computers with sales price of $1,500 or less per item.

Texas - May 23-25: the following Energy Star products: air conditioners (sales price up to $6,000), clothes washers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs, programmable thermostats, and refrigerators (sales price up to $2,000).
August 21-23: clothing and footwear (not accessories, athletic, protective, or rentals) and school backpacks with sales price of less than $100 per item.

Vermont - August 22: items of tangible personal property sold to individuals for personal use at a sales price of $2,000 or less.

Virginia - May 25-31: portable generators with selling price of $1,000 or less and other hurricane preparedness items with selling price of $60 or less.
August 7-9: clothing and footwear with selling price of $100 or less per item; school supplies with selling price of $100 or less per item; school supplies with selling price of $20 or less per item.
October 9-12: noncommercial purchases of Energy Star and WaterSense qualified products with a sales price of $2,500 or less per item.

West Virginia - September 1 - November 30: noncommercial purchases of Energy Star qualified products with sales price of $5,000 or less.

Oh, and by the way, you Pennsylvania residents, you have a clothing and footwear sales tax holiday from January 1st to December 31st!

The States’ Department of Revenue Sales Tax Holiday resources are;
Alabama
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Georgia- Code Sec. 48-8-3(75)(A)-(B)
Iowa
Louisiana
Missouri Back to School Sales Tax Holiday
Missouri Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday
New Mexico
North Carolina August Sales Tax Holiday
North Carolina Energy Star Qualified Products Sales Tax Holiday
Oklahoma
South Carolina- S.C. Code Ann. §12-36-2120(57)
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia- W. Va. Code §11-15-9j

---

Subscribe to CyberTax News and receive the latest indirect tax news, including rate changes, rule updates, compliance issues, and more, delivered directly to your email.

Email Address

e.