CCH Releases 2012 List of State Tax Holidays in Time for Back-to-School Shopping

• Maryland: August 12-18. Clothing and footwear, excluding accessories, with a sales price of $100 or less.

Maryland also holds an energy-efficiency tax holiday, which was held earlier this year.

• Mississippi: July 27-28. Clothing or footwear, excluding not accessories, rentals, skis, swim fins and skates, with a sales price of $100 or less per item.

• Missouri: August 3-5. Clothing, excluding accessories, with a sales price of $100 or less per item; school supplies with a sales price of $50 or less per purchase; computer software with a sales price of $350 or less; and computers and computer peripherals with a sales price of $3,500 or less. Retailers who offer for sale less than two percent of qualified merchandise must offer a sales tax refund in lieu of the holiday, as the sales tax holiday does not apply to them.

Missouri also observes an energy-efficiency tax holiday, held earlier this year.

• New Mexico: August 3-5. Clothing and footwear, excluding accessories and athletic or protective clothing, with a sales price of $100 or less per item; school supplies with a sales price of $30 or less per item; computers with a sales price of $1,000 or less per item; computer peripherals with a sales price of $500 or less per item; book bags, backpacks, maps and globes with a sales price $100 or less per item; and handheld calculators with a sales price of less than $200 per item. Participation by retailers is optional.

• New York: New York does not hold an official sales tax holiday, but the state does provide a sales and use tax exemption for clothing and footwear. As of April 1, clothing and footwear sold for less than $110 are exempt from the state’s sale and use tax.

• North Carolina: August 3-5. Clothing and school supplies with a sales price of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials with a sales price of $300 or less per item; sport/recreational equipment with a sales price of $50 or less per item; computers with a sales price of $3,500 or less; and computer supplies with a sales price of $250 or less per item. Exclusions include clothing accessories, protective equipment, any item sold for use in a trade or business, educational software, furniture, luggage, stereo equipment and DVD players and similar equipment.

North Carolina will also hold an energy-efficiency tax holiday November 2-4. Sales tax will be exempt on qualified Energy Star products sold for non-business use, such as clothes washers, freezers and refrigerators, central and room air conditioners, air-source heat pumps, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers and programmable thermostats.

• Oklahoma: August 3-5. Clothing and footwear with a sales price of less than $100, excluding accessories, special clothing and athletic or protective equipment and the rental of clothing.

• South Carolina: August 3-5. Clothing (excluding rentals), clothing accessories, footwear, school supplies, computers, printers, printer supplies, computer software, bath wash clothes, bed linens, pillows, bath towels, shower curtains and bath rugs.

• Tennessee: August 3-5. Clothing (excluding accessories), school supplies and school art supplies with a sales price of $100 or less per item and computers with a sales price of $1,500 or less per item.

• Texas: August 17-19. Clothing, footwear and school backpacks, excluding accessories, athletic or protective clothing or rentals, with a sales price of less than $100 per item.

Texas held its energy-efficiency tax holiday earlier this year.

• Virginia: August 3-5. Clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100 or less per item and school supplies with a sales price of $20 or less per item.

Virginia also offers a tax holiday for hurricane preparedness which was held earlier this year and an energy-efficiency tax holiday, held October 5-8. During this tax holiday, noncommercial purchases of Energy Star and WaterSense qualified products with a sales price of $2,500 or less per item are exempt.