Seventeen states will soon offer sales tax holidays where state sales tax charges are temporarily dropped on back-to-school items and other qualifying products.
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting US has created the map below showing the state-by-state dates and details on the back-to-school sales tax holidays.
The sales tax holidays begin as early as July 30 and many take place in early August. However, the temporary tax exemptions only apply to specific items outlined by each state.
There have been some changes and at least one uncertainty about the tax breaks. Ohio enacted a new back-to-school tax holiday period beginning this year. Shoppers there can save on qualifying purchases from August 7 to 9. Last August, Massachusetts enacted a sales tax holiday for qualifying non-business retail sales items that took place a few days later, on the 16th and 17th. As of July 29, 2015, however, the state has not enacted a similar law for this year. With the exception of 2009, Massachusetts has enacted a sales tax holiday every year since 2004.
All the other states that offered back-to-school sales tax holidays last year are continuing their programs in 2015, without any being discontinued or expiring, according to Wolters Kluwer. Those include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
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