RALEIGH ó Gov. Mike Easley has announced that the state’s seventh annual state and local sales tax holiday will be Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3.
Last year the governor signed a law that added school instructional materials, such as reference books, maps, globes, textbooks and workbooks with an individual price tag of up to $300, to the list of items included as exempt from the sales tax. Previously, the price limit was $100.
“As many families find themselves squeezed by the national economy with increasing prices for food, gasoline and other necessities, our tax holiday offers consumers a chance for some real savings,” Easley said.
“With all the needs the start of a new school year brings, this is a way for families to stretch their hard-earned money a bit farther and an opportunity to generate significant business for our retailers.”
During the tax holiday weekend, consumers will not pay sales tax on the following items: clothes and footwear costing less than $100 per item; school supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, textbooks, book bags, lunch bags and calculators costing less than $100 per item; sports and recreation equipment costing $50 or less per item; computers costing less than $3,500 and computer supplies costing less than $250 per item.
An all-inclusive list of items that qualify as “school supplies” during the sales tax holiday is available at the N.C. Department of Revenue’s web site: http://www.dornc .com/taxes/sales/holiday_4-08.pdf.
The back-to-school sales tax holiday was enacted by the General Assembly and signed into law by Easley in 2001.
In November, consumers will receive another reprieve from the sales tax with the governor’s first tax holiday on energy-efficient items.
During the first weekend of November, specific “Energy Star” qualified appliances such as washing machines, freezers and refrigerators, air conditioners and other items will be exempt from sales tax.