Sales Tax Holidays by State 2011

Save money on back-to-school costs during the annual sales tax holidays. Use this list to see which states are participating, which items are eligible and state-by-state guidelines you need to know before you go shopping. Most states only have a weekend to take advantage of this opportunity, and for many it is this upcoming weekend!

 

Click the state link to see any exclusions - one I know is computer paper is excluded in FL.

 

State	Items and Max Cost (Per Item)	2011 Dates	More Information
Alabama	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	revenue.alabama.gov
	computers – $750
	school supplies – $50
	books – $30
Arkansas	clothing and footwear – $100	Sat + Sun August 6-7	www.dfa.arkansas.gov
	Clothing accessories – $50
	school supplies, art supplies, school instructional material
Connecticut	clothing and footwear – $300	Sun-Sat August 21-27	www.ct.gov
Florida	school supplies – $15	Fri-Sun August 12-14	dor.myflorida.com
	books, clothing $75 (excludes computer paper)
Iowa	clothing – $100	Fri + Sat August 5-6	www.iowaccess.org
Louisiana	all TPP – $2,500	Fri + Sat August 5-6	revenue.louisiana.gov
	hurricane preparedness items – $1,500
Maryland	clothing and footwear – $100	Sun- Sat August 14-20	www.marylandtaxes.com
Missouri	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	dor.mo.gov
	computers – $3,500
	school supplies – $50
New Mexico	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.newmexico.gov
	computers – $1,000
	school supplies – $15
North Carolina	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.dornc.com
	school supples – $100
	instructional material – $300
	computers – $3,500
	other comp. – $250
	sports equip – $50
Oklahoma	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.ok.gov
South Carolina	clothing	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.sctax.org
	school supplies
	computers
	other (Check SC site for explicit items' exemptions)
Tennessee	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	tn.gov
	school supplies – $100
	computers – $1,500
Texas	clothing, backpacks, and school supplies – $100	Fri-Sun August 19-21	www.window.state.tx.us
Virginia	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.virginia.gov
	school supplies – $20

chart via

Checkout Is A Breeze?

I have to smirk when I see the new bags they have at #Publix. They say in big letters, I LOVE IT WHEN CHECKOUT IS A BREEZE. I normally don't notice what gets printed on the bags, but the long check out when they inspect all my coupons gives me plenty of time to ponder. Lately, I've been especially conscious to notify the person stepping into line behind me that "I have a lot of coupons (waving them wildly) so it may take a few extra minutes to checkout". They ALL leave. A while ago when I would warn people about the extended checkout behind me, they would say - Oh, that's okay I'm not in a hurry. Or, that's fine I don't mind.  But not anymore, they all look at my pile of paper and beat it out of there.

I know the cashier appreciates it too because they aren't allowed to shoo people away from their lines, but then they don't have to listen to the person complain about the wait after I've walked away with my stuff. Sometimes I even suggest they turn off their light (if they won't get in trouble - some managers won't let them) so people don't come into our line. And just a couple weekends ago, I asked a manager to open a line for me since I had so many coupons and would need manager override too for numbers (too many coupons compared to items - due to stacking). Anyway, I do try to limit the inconvenience for other shoppers just because I choose to  pay with coupons. It does take a lot of time and focused attention at the register to make sure they are all handled correctly, and I certainly don't want to rush the cashier.

So, I look at that brown paper bag and dream for the day, I too can have checkout be a breeze.

World Cup Shopping

While everyone was watching the Womens World Cup Soccer match, I was riding motorcycle around visiting the Hillsborough State Park, dodging rain clouds and stopping at a couple stores. We managed to pick up the flyer from WD with the milk bone coupon that would stack with the MQ (5/22 RP) at Publix. I also was looking for the elusive $5 GC P&G tearpad that always was ripped clean on all the displays we saw.

 

I felt like the World Cup soccer women at one store when I happened to score some Gas-x ($10 off 3 MQ 7-17ss), some Always ($5 GC wyb 3 tearpad), and lots of the papermate pens, Bic pencils, Scotch tape and Scotch scissors. I knew my order would take a bit longer to checkout so when the employee was encouraging people to step to an new line, I mentioned I had a bunch of coupons and maybe they could open a line for me. The customer service manager gladly did that and smoothly handled all my stuff until he came upon all the TQ's. Then he decided to enforce the "one per transaction" wording which was okay, except it meant my whole order calculations were off. It was like getting a penalty in the World Cup! I suggested just starting over with what I could buy without TQ's, which wasn't much – certainly not all my moneymaker pens. This store has always been very coupon friendly and has always accepted any number of TQ's I've had. They also waited to scan my GC til the very end and of course the total was in the negative which doesn't really help one fly under the radar. I think when he realized I was getting a good amount of overage is when he decided to enforce the one per transaction wording.

 

Anyway, I didn't contest any of it and just merrily got my remaining deals knowing I can easily get the product at another friendly store. The hardest thing about extreme couponing is when you have a plan and it gets foiled. The dejection is almost enough to make you not want to go back into a store, even if you know you are right. I just really hate any conflict with staff about coupons and I think most people are like that too. It's actually why a lot of people I know just don't bother with it – it's too much trouble at the store. To me it was like the end of the World Cup soccer game for the women, they were so close to a win but then in the end, it just didn't work out.