Missouri’s 2019 Back to School Sales Tax Holiday is scheduled for this weekend, when local residents can save some money while shopping for school clothes and supplies.
During the event, which will run from 12:01 a.m. Friday (Aug. 2) to midnight Sunday (Aug. 4), the state will not collect its 4.225 percent sales tax on school-related purchases.
Counties, cities and other local taxing entities have the option of participating in the state tax holiday, and Jefferson County will not charge its 1.625 percent sales tax either.
The cities of Arnold, Hillsboro, Kimmswick and Herculaneum also will participate in the holiday and forego collecting their local sales taxes during the sales tax holiday weekend. Their sales tax rates are: Arnold, 1.25 percent; Kimmswick, 1.5 percent; Hillsboro, 1.875 percent; and Herculaneum, 2.5 percent.
However, even if an entity participates in the holiday, it may have a designated region not fully participating, like the Arnold Retail Corridor Transportation Development District.
Five of the county’s major municipalities – Byrnes Mill, Crystal City, De Soto, Festus and Pevely – will not participate in the holiday, so they will collect their sales taxes.
Back-to-school items that are exempt from the sales tax this weekend include any article of clothing that costs $100 or less, up to $50 worth of school supplies, personal computers that cost no more than $1,500, other computer equipment not exceeding $1,500, computer software that costs $350 or less and graphing calculators that cost no more than $150.
For more information, go to the Department of Revenue’s website at dor.mo.gov/business/sales/taxholiday/school/.