FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 16, 2004

State’s annual “holiday” from sales tax is Aug. 6-8

            With the end of summer near, many South Carolina shoppers are turning their thoughts to back-to-school shopping rituals of early August, and the state’s annual three day break from sales and use tax has become a favorite time for such purchases.

            This year the “sales tax holiday” begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6 and continues through midnight, Sunday Aug. 8.  An exemption from the 5% state sales tax and all other local sales tax is applied to traditional back-to-school purchases such as clothes, shoes and school supplies.  The exemption also applies to big-ticket items such as computers, computer software and printers. 

            This is the fifth year of the sales tax holiday, which became law in 2000 and, by law, the event is held annually the first weekend in August.  The Department of Revenue estimates that shoppers saved more than $2.3 million in sales and use tax exemptions last year.  In addition to savings in sales tax, merchants often offer discounts, promotions and special sales during the tax-free weekend, saving South Carolinians even more money. 

            A list of all exempt items is available at the Department of Revenue website, www.sctax.org, under “What’s New.”  More than 125 items are exempt from sales tax during the sales tax holiday, however some items such as jewelry, furniture, shoe or clothing rentals and items purchased for use in a business or trade, are not exempt.

            The website also lists answers to the most frequently asked questions concerning the tax-free weekend.

            The following is a list of savings by taxpayers during previous years of the holiday.

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