Stores, shoppers prepare for annual Texas sales tax holiday

Tax-free shopping runs from midnight Thursday through Saturday night.

Motorists traveling in the area of The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta on Friday and Saturday should be prepared for traffic delays as back-to-school shoppers journey to the mall for the tax-free weekend.

He acknowledged that the holiday shifts some sales from other days.

But opponents say the holiday primarily shifts sales that would have happened anyway, but at a different time. For example, parents may consider stocking up on necessary, and usually costly, diapers while avoiding any type of sales tax.

Shoppers will get a break from road construction this weekend to go along with the state’s suspension of the sales tax for school supplies, clothing and computer equipment.

Below is a listing of what is and what isn’t included in the sales tax holiday.

Representative Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) reminds back-to-school shoppers that Ohio’s first-ever, one-time Sales Tax Holiday will begin on Friday, August 7th and will end on Sunday, August 9th.

Clothing and footwear items that cost less than $100 per item are exempt from sales tax during this period. Citing a National Retail Federation survey, the Georgia Retail Association said almost 30 percent of families plan to spend more on back-to-school items this year than they did last year.

Looking at it another way, Texas will lose $87 million in taxes, points out Carol Kokinis-Graves, a senior writer analyst at tax software provider Wolters Kluwer in Riverwoods. The trend peaked with 19 states in 2010, but some states, including North Carolina, have abandoned tax holidays in favor of lowering their overall tax rate.

Question: How are exchanges of items purchased during the sales tax holiday handled when returned after the sales tax holiday?

“This tax holiday will benefit Ohio businesses and consumers”, said Miller.

State Rep. Jay Kaufman, D-Lexington, said although the sales tax holiday is politically popular, “We need to be more cautious and rational about our tax policy than to always respond to what voters want”.