Back to school: Supplies free from tax on holiday

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009

School starts for some Rowan-Salisbury students tomorrow. Rowan’s Early College has its first day of classes.
For others, the first day is Tuesday, Aug. 25.
North Carolina’s annual sales tax holiday is this weekend, Friday through Sunday, giving families a chance to stock up and save now.
This list is also available at www.rss.k12.nc.us. It comes from the N.C. Department of Revenue. The complete list includes such items as wedding dresses and diapers.
Eligible school supply items fall in six categories: clothing, sport or recreational equipment, computers, computer supplies, school supplies, school instructional materials. Each category has a price limit to qualify for the tax exemption.
Clothing with a sales price of $100 or less per itemThis includes:
– casual school clothing, uniforms, sports-related clothing;
– footwear;
– outerwear: coats, jackets, gloves, hats and mittens;
– underclothing.
Sport or recreational equipment with a sales price of $50 or less per itemThis category includes:
– dance shoes;
– cleated or spiked athletic shoes;
– ball gloves;
– goggles;
– helmets;
– mouth guards;
– skates;
– shoulder pads.
Computers with a sales price of $3,500 or less per itemComputer peripherals such as keyboards, speakers or mice, if purchased separately, do not qualify.
Computer supplies with a sales price of $250 or less peritem.
This list is all-inclusive:
– Computer storage media, including diskettes and compact disks;
– handheld electronic schedulers, except devices that are cellular phones;
– personal digital assistants, except devices that are cellular phones;
– Computer printers ;
– Printer supplies for computers, including printer paper and printer ink.
School supplies with a sales price of $100 or less per item.A “school supply” is an item commonly used by a student in a course of study; the term includes school art supplies and school instructional materials. This list is all-inclusive.
– binders;
– blackboard chalk;
– book bags;
– calculators;
– cellophane tape;
– clay and glazes;
– compasses;
– composition books;
– crayons;
– erasers;
– folders (expandable, pocket, plastic and manila);
– glue, paste and paste sticks;
– highlighters;
– index card boxes;
– index cards;
– legal pads;
– lunch boxes;
– markers;
– notebooks;
– paintbrushes for artwork;
– paints (acrylic, tempera and oil);
– paper (loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, posterboard and construction paper);
– pencil boxes and other school supply boxes;
– pencil sharpeners;
– pencils;
– pens;
– protractors;
– rulers;
– scissors;
– sketch and drawing pads;
– watercolors;
– writing tablets.
School instructional materials with a sales price of $300 or less per itemThis is a new category. Prior to the 2008 holiday, these items were categorized as “school supplies” and were exempt during the holiday period if the sales price of the item was $100 or less per item. Now the price has been increased to $300. The list includes:
– reference books;
– reference maps and globes;
– textbooks;
– workbooks.