Sales tax holidays in 2014.
Sales tax holidays happen.
You may consider them poor tax policy, as does the Tax Foundation. You may like them, as do many state politicians. In truth, your opinion doesn’t really matter. For or against, if you sell into a state with a sales tax holiday, you had best be equipped to handle it.
To date, the following sales tax holidays have been announced for 2014:
- Alabama: Severe weather preparedness sales tax holiday, February 21-23;
- Maryland: Energy Tax Free Weekend, February 15-17; Shop Maryland Tax Free Week, August 3-9;
- North Carolina: August sales tax holiday, first Friday-Sunday in August; Energy Star products, first weekend in November.
- Texas: Energy Star sales tax holiday, May 24-26; Clothing and school supplies, date varies depending on the first day a Texas school district begins classes.
State department of revenue websites often do not release information on sales tax holidays until close to the date of the holiday. The following sales tax holidays took place in 2013; dates for a 2014 holiday have not yet been announced.
- Alabama: Back-to-school sales tax holiday in August.
- Arkansas: Back-to-school holiday in August.
- Connecticut: Back-to-school holiday in August.
- Florida: Back-to-school holiday in August.
- Georgia: Back-to-school sales tax holiday in August and an energy efficient holiday in October (Georgia DOR).
- Iowa: Clothing and footwear sales tax holiday in August.
- Louisiana: Hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday in May; Back-to-school holiday in August; Second Amendment holiday (guns, ammunition, etc) in September.
- Massachusetts: many items of tangible personal property for personal use in August.
- Mississippi: clothing and footwear sales tax holiday in July.
- Missouri: Energy efficient products in April and a back-to-school holiday in August.
- New Mexico: Gross receipts tax holiday in August.
- North Carolina: Oklahoma: Clothing and footwear holiday in August.
- Puerto Rico historically offers a tax-free period for school supplies in July.
- South Carolina: Back-to-school holiday in August.
- Tennessee: Sales tax holiday for clothing, computers and school supplies, August.
- Virginia: Emergency preparedness holiday in May; school supplies to clothing in August; and Energy efficient products sales tax holiday in October.
Breaking sales tax holiday news
Walmart and Apple have reportedly lobbied for a Wisconsin sales tax holiday that would waive sales tax on some computers and school supplies. The holiday has been proposed by Republican lawmakers and is thought to have a good chance of being accepted if the state’s budget looks good (a budget report is expected soon). However, some Wisconsin lawmakers worry that a sales tax holiday “would put a burden on small business owners who would have to reprogram their cash registers to not charge sales tax.”
How does your business handle sales tax holidays? An automated sales tax system helps.
