Sales tax holiday brings out area shoppers

Shoppers could relax without worrying about paying tax this weekend during Missouri's seventh annual back-to-school sales tax holiday.

Beginning Friday, the state's 4.225 percent sales tax was not assessed items like clothing, school supplies and computers. The tax holiday continues through midnight today.

"We got some school supplies already, but we waited until the tax-free weekend to get the boys shoes and clothes," said Amanda Warden of Fredericktown, Mo., who was shopping Saturday at Nearly Perfect Shoes in Jackson.

Warden's husband Andrew and three sons, Vinny, 6, Noah, 7, and Brett, 9, made the trip to shop in Jackson on Saturday specifically because the city was participating with the state in waiving its 1.5 percent local sales tax this weekend.

"It's the best place to go," Noah Warden said.

Cape Girardeau County also is taking part in the tax holiday, saving customers another 1 percent in sales tax this weekend.

In addition to retail purchases, the state's sales tax holiday applies to online purchases of back-to-school items where Missouri's retail sales tax is charged.

Cape Girardeau chose not to take part in the sales tax holiday, so customers in the city will still be charged a 2.75 percent local sales tax this weekend, but some retailers are making up the difference by paying that tax for their customers.

"Cape's not participating, but we are," said Teresa Borneman, general manager at Staples in Cape Girardeau. "Everything in our store is 100 percent tax-free."

Borneman said Staples had about twice as many customers Saturday compared to a typical Saturday. She also said this year's sales tax holiday weekend had more shoppers than last year's.

Many customers were buying laptops, she said.

Computers and computer accessories costing less than $3,500 are eligible for the tax holiday.

Bill Mason of Jackson said he saved about $50 on a Gateway laptop at Best Buy on Saturday thanks to the sales tax holiday. "We'll buy all our children school supplies this weekend, too," he said.

Best Buy general manager Justin Cox said the sales tax holiday creates a fun atmosphere for shoppers.

"We've had a lot of people that are excited about it," Cox said. "It really gets people out."

Best Buy had more customers than in a typical weekend but not as many as during the holiday season, he said, although some shoppers compared the sales tax holiday crowds to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Items eligible for the tax holiday include:

* Clothing and shoes less than $100.

* School supplies less than $50, including notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, art supplies, backpacks, hand-held calculators, chalk, maps, globes,

* Computers less than $3,500 including monitors, keyboards, printers and scanners.

* Computer software less than $350.

Items not included in the sales tax are jewelry, watches, handbags, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment and cell phones.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent addresses:

3026 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO

294 Siemers Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO

1985 East Jackson Blvd., Jackson, MO