Sales-tax holiday

Missourians looking for good deals on back-to-school supplies will find plenty of bargains in mid-August when the state has its first sales-tax holiday.

From Aug. 13 to 15, Missouri retailers won't collect the state's 4.225 percent sales tax on select items: clothes, school supplies, personal computers and computer software.

And plenty of counties and cities across the state also will drop their sales taxes for the weekend. Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties won't be collecting any sales tax over that period.

Other cities and counties, however, have chosen not to participate in the sales-tax holiday, so shoppers will have to choose where they want to spend their back-to-school dollars.

Several communities and counties in Southeast Missouri are not waiving their local sales taxes, including Charleston, Farmington, Kennett and New Madrid as well as New Madrid and Ste. Genevieve counties.

And shoppers who have an abundance of purchases to make need to be aware there are some limits on what's covered by the tax holiday.

Legislation governing the sales-tax holiday puts limits on how much of a particular item is exempt: clothing and footwear priced at less than $100 per item, personal computers priced at $2,000 or less, school supplies less than $50 per purchase and computer software having taxable value of $200 or less.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce Web site offers information about how to take full advantage of the sales-tax holiday when shopping.

The holiday offers consumers an opportunity to save on purchases for school, and retailers will get an opportunity to boost their revenue.

Shoppers should consider planning their purchases in advance, using a prepared wish list and even shopping several times at a single store or dividing purchases among several stores in order to take full advantage of the sales tax holiday.