8/3/04 - As students head back to school, many of their parents will get a tax beak on the increasingly costly purchase of school supplies.
Twelve states provide a "tax holiday" during the back-to-school season to ease the burden on parents by not charging a sales tax.
The average family spent $483.28 on back-to-school items last year, up from $450.76 the year before, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reports.
Although most of this spending was for clothes and shoes, a growing percentage is going to computer equipment and other electronics, says NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin.
In 1997, New York became the first state to enact a tax holiday. The tax-free periods range from one day in Massachusetts to seven days in Connecticut and New York. Other states with tax holidays include Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
"State legislatures see the tax holiday as a way to alleviate the tax burden on working families, as well as jump starting local retail businesses," states the Federation of Tax Administrators.
In South Carolina, some parent will have wait until after the start of the school year to purchase tax-free school supplies. The state's tax holiday falls on the weekend of Aug. 6-8, but about 300 of the state's 1,100 schools start before Aug. 6.
In Florida, the state legislature reinstated the tax holiday after a two-year hiatus. Although billed as a benefit to parents of school-age children, the tax holiday is not limited to school supplies or children's clothing.
Any item of clothing under $50 or any school supply under $10 purchased between July 24 and Aug. 1 is exempt from the state's 6 percent sales tax.
Vermont's two tax holidays, Aug. 7-9 and Oct. 9-11, are just for personal computers. The tax holidays in Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, and West Virginia cover computers as well as clothes and school supplies. And while Massachusetts's tax holiday is only one day, Aug. 14, it covers all retail items.