Big shopping weekend in store with tax holiday

This weekend will be a huge shopping weekend in the state of Missouri.

It's back-to-school sales tax holiday season in the state, the time when many school-related items can be purchased without having to pay sales tax.

There is always a bit of confusion as to what this means for consumers when they hear that local jursidictions "opt out." When that happens, shoppers still have their Missouri sales tax removed from their purchase, but they may not receive the break on their local taxes.

In our area, Cape Girardeau County and the city of Jackson have opted in, meaning the county and Jackson sales taxes are waived this weekend.

"We are excited to again be participating in Missouri's tax-free weekend," Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs stated in a news release. "Over the past 14 years, we have had consistently successful tax-free weekends. The holiday makes purchasing back-to-school supplies a little more affordable for our residents and those who drive to Jackson to shop."

The city of Cape Girardeau has opted out. To compensate, some local businesses choose to offer discounts equal to the local sales tax so it still feels like you're getting the entire benefit.

The city, a regional shopping hub that relies heavily on sales taxes for its operations, has said previously that the local holiday tax break meant a revenue loss of about $20,000 over the sales-tax-free weekend.

As a reminder, here are the qualifying purchases, and limitations, regarding the sales tax break this weekend:

Clothing: any article having a taxable value of $100 or less

School supplies: not to exceed $50 per purchase

Computer software: taxable value of $350 or less per purchase

Personal computers: not to exceed $1,500

Computer peripheral devices: not to exceed $1,500

Graphing calculators: not to exceed $150

We hope you have fun shopping this weekend. Here's to saving a few bucks as you prepare to send your students back to school.