Back to school time is upon many families. In some locations that also means a 'sales tax holiday.'
AAFES joins in 'sales tax holidays'
Military shoppers will get double tax-free savings at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores in states that temporarily suspend state and local taxes on purchases of some items during so-called "sales tax holidays."
All but a handful of states hold annual sales tax holidays, which apply to certain specific items and are usually aimed at easing the costs of back-to-school shopping for families with children. Dates of the holidays, which last two to three days, vary from state to state.
Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri, for example, are among the states staging sales tax holiday this weekend. All are suspending sales tax on school supplies and clothing up to a certain dollar value, and Georgia and Missouri also are including personal computers up to $1,500.
Texas will stage its holiday Aug. 15-17 on school supplies and clothing.
Exchange stores never charge sales taxes on any products they sell. So on these tax holidays, exchanges in each state will offer an additional percentage discount, equivalent to the state and local sales tax that is being temporarily suspended by that state, for as long as the "holiday" period lasts.
In effect, that will double the tax discount for patrons who shop in AAFES stores.
There is no central listing of all state sales tax holidays, but you may be able to find information about your state's plans by typing the state name and the words "sales tax holiday" into an Internet search engine such as Google.
