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Sales tax holidays, take two

August 13, 2008

Attention Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas shoppers! Your state sales tax holiday is this weekend.

Sales_tax_holiday_iowa_2Texas kicks off this final round of back-to-school sales tax-free events on Friday, Aug. 15. State and some local levies will be waived through Sunday, Aug. 17.

Massachusetts is giving its shoppers the weekend days to save or spend or both, depending on who’s talking about the event.

Connecticut is holding a week-long event, starting Sunday, Aug. 17, and running through Saturday, Aug. 23.

The table below provides details on these last three late summer sales tax holidays.

Texas, Massachusetts & Connecticut
2008 Tax Holidays
Click on the state name to go to the official tax holiday Web page.
State Dates Tax-exempt Items
Texas August 15-17 Clothing (o $50 per item);
books (up to $30 each)
Massachusetts August 16-17  Most items costing $2,500 or less; purchases of vehicles, meals and certain services remain taxable
Connecticut August 17-23  Clothing and footwear (up to $300 per item)

More tax holidays this fall: Remember to mark your calendar, though, if you live in D.C., Georgia,
South Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia. In a couple of months, these
states will be holding more sales tax holidays.

Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia will reward energy efficient shoppers. West Virginia’s event is Sept. 1-7; Georgia’s runs Oct. 2-5; and Virginia shoppers get tax savings from Oct. 10-13.

Washington, D.C.’s second event of the year is just like the first one, only timed to appeal to the holiday shopping spirit. It runs from Nov. 21 through Dec. 1.

And hunters and gun aficionados from all over the south and southeast will be heading to the Palmetto State in late November for what is probably the most unique tax holiday of, well, of forever: South Carolina’s first Second Amendment Sales-Tax Holiday.

Yep, as mentioned previously, starting in 2008 and then on each subsequent year’s Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, South Carolina won’t collect sales tax on the purchases of handguns, rifles and shotguns.

I suspect that this Nov. 28 and 29, there might be as many anti-gun folks and media representatives in South Carolina stores as there will be firearms shoppers.

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TAX-SAVVY WAYS 
TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill. 

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings. 

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year. 

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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Family
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Comments
  • Jeff Day
    18 years ago Reply

    Sales Tax Holidays? Wonder when various states are going to start emphasizing that when it’s residents go to another state with the holiday gimmick, that the taxpayers owe users tax in their homestates?
    Someone lives in New Hampshire and goes to Massachussetts during the tax holiday period and makes purchases they still owe the taxes for the purchases to the State of New Hampshire.
    Do I as a tax professional have an obligation to point that out to all the residents?

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