MO sales tax holiday is this weekend
MO sales tax holiday is this weekend
Aug. 3 marks the beginning of Missouri’s annual “Back-to-School” Sales Tax Holiday – a time for shoppers in Missouri to save money on computers, clothes and school supplies.
By state law, the sales tax holiday begins on the first Friday in August and continues through the following Sunday. This year, the three-day holiday begins at midnight Friday, Aug. 3, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 5. During this time, the state’s 4.225 percent sales tax will not be assessed on certain purchases made in Missouri.
Local governments can participate in the tax holiday and increase the savings for shoppers, or opt out of the holiday and maintain local tax revenue during the weekend. Ozark County has opted out. County sales tax will still be collected by Ozark County merchants during the holiday, but state sales tax will not.
Out-of-state residents can also save. The key is that the purchase has to be made in Missouri between Aug. 3 and 5.
The state sales tax will not be charged on the following items during the holiday:
• Clothing that does not have a value of more than $100. Eligible clothing includes footwear and standard items of apparel worn on or about the body. It also includes fabric to make school clothing. It does not include accessories such as watches, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands and belt buckles.
• School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. School supplies include textbooks, notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps and globes. School supplies do not include CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable telephones, copiers or other office equipment.
• Personal computers that don’t cost more than $3,500 and computer peripheral devices that don’t exceed $3,500. A personal computer can be a laptop, desktop or tower computer system that consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, display monitor, keyboard and other related devices. Peripheral devices include items such as a disk drive, memory module, CD drive, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, speakers, printer, scanner, sound card or video card. Computer software is considered a school supply and is free from sales tax if its value is less than $350.
The list of cities, countries and special districts that have chosen not to participate in the holiday is listed on the Missouri Department of Revenue website (dor.mo.gov). Type “sales tax holiday” into the search box or call 573-751-2836.