Sales tax holiday

It will be a busy weekend for Missouri retailers as students, parents, educators and others shop during the back-to-school sales tax holiday.

Over the course of the next three days (12:01 a.m. today through Sunday) the state will waive the 4.225 percent sales tax for back-to-school items such as clothing, school supplies and computers.

Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry and Scott counties will waive their sales tax. Stoddard County will charge a 1 percent county sales tax.

The cities of Jackson, Perryville and Sikeston are waiving their sales tax, while Cape Girardeau will charge a 2.75 percent sales tax and Dexter a 1 percent city sales tax. However, some local retailers have opted to pay the city sales tax in hopes of drawing more customers to their stores.

To see the full list of guidelines applicable to the sales tax holiday, go to www.dor.mo.gov.

The sales tax holiday has been popular in past years. Retailers typically do well over the three-day period, and for the families on tight budgets, the savings can help.

Happy shopping!