State, counties wise to offer sales tax holiday

The back-to-school signs are coming out, a sure sign that local schools soon will be back in session soon.

A popular weekend in Missouri for several years is the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. Held on the first weekend in August, the holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and continues through Sunday.

The weekend provides shoppers a break on many back-to-school purchases including clothing, personal computers and school supplies. You can read about the details in Friday's Southeast Missourian and online at dor.mo.gov/business/sales/taxholiday/school.

While state sales tax is not included statewide, local taxing authorities can opt out of the weekend. Some have in the past, but many of our local communities have chosen to participate this year -- including Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville and Scott City.

Whether you have children in school or want to individually take advantage of the holiday, we hope you will consider shopping locally. Retailers have traditionally used this weekend to offer special deals to garner your business. We applaud those who do this and thank the cities and counties who have chosen to participate.

We hope you get off to a strong school year and find great deals this weekend.