Last week, Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill into law that will save Mississippians shopping for school clothing and shoes the 7 percent sales tax during the last weekend in July.

House Bill 348 amends laws already on the books exempting many items from sales tax, including food from vending machines and some sales to non-profit organizations.

With this new amendment, clothing and shoes costing less than $100 will be exempt from state sales tax from noon on Friday until midnight Saturday, July 24 and 25, 2009.

The Mississippi Press reports that bills for a tax-free weekend have been introduced every year since 2000. With Barbour's signing the bill, the state joins 15 others and Washington, D.C. in offering a tax-free weekend.

"We were losing revenue around the end of the summer because of surrounding states offering sales tax-free weekends," said Rep. Brandon Jones, D-Pascagoula, one of the co-authors of HB 348 to The Mississippi Press.

Neighboring Alabama and Louisiana both have more expansive laws.

The Alabama law makes a wider variety of items eligible for exemption during that state's tax holiday in August.
In Alabama, exemptions apply to clothing priced at $100 or less, computers and related equipment at $750 or less, school supplies at $50 or less and books under $30.

Louisiana's back-to-school tax exemption weekend in August applies to the first $2,500 of the price of most consumer purchases. The exemption is for tangible personal property. Louisiana also offers a tax holiday for hurricane preparedness items in late May.

Previous Comments

ID

145581

Comment

I would like to see the law more expansive. I guess we have to start somewhere. My family in Texas gets a big bang for thier bucks during this no-tax weekend. Come on Jackson!

Author

justjess

Date

2009-04-06T10:54:55-06:00

ID

145582

Comment

You have to spend $1000 to save $70 in sales tax. That's not worth fighting the crowds this is going to cause in that short of a time period.

Author

BubbaT

Date

2009-04-06T11:22:41-06:00

ID

145583

Comment

Georgia does this and the malls are as crowded as if it were the Christmas season. Given that only 15 other states and the District of Columbia does this, I'm glad Mississippi didn't wait to be the last to do it.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-04-06T11:26:08-06:00