This weekend begins a summertime rite of passage for some states: the sales tax holiday. Some 17 states this year are temporarily waiving their sales taxes on clothing, backpacks and other items deemed essential for students headed back to school. Though sales tax holidays are popular with shoppers, economists have long complained that the events don’t actually stimulate spending that wouldn’t have happened anyway. And when it comes to the most expensive items up for tax breaks — computers — one could argue that the rules aren’t exactly keeping up with the times. For example, Missouri and North Carolina will waive the sales tax on computers priced up to $3,500, even though the average price of a PC sold in the U.S. is around and has been dropping for years . And in Tennessee, an iPad qualifies for the break but a Kindle does not.
| State | Starts | Ends | School Supplies | Clothing | Computers | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 8/5 | 8/7 | Books | |||
| Arkansas | 8/6 | 8/7 | n/a | |||
| Connecticut | 8/21 | 8/27 | ||||
| Florida | 8/12 | 8/14 | Books | |||
| Iowa | 8/5 | 8/6 | ||||
| Louisiana | 8/5 | 8/6 | All tangible personal property ,500 | |||
| Massachusetts | 8/13 | 8/14 | All tangible personal property ,500 | |||
| Maryland | 8/14 | 8/20 | ||||
| Mississippi | 7/29 | 7/30 | ||||
| Missouri | 8/5 | 8/7 | ,500 | |||
| New Mexico | 8/5 | 8/7 | ,000 | |||
| North Carolina | 8/5 | 8/7 | ,500 | Other computer $250 Instructional material $300 Sports equip. |
||
| Oklahoma | 8/5 | 8/7 | ||||
| South Carolina | 8/5 | 8/7 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Tennessee | 8/5 | 8/7 | ,500 | |||
| Texas | 8/19 | 8/21 | Backpacks | |||
| Virginia | 8/5 | 8/7 | ||||
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