Many back-to-school shoppers are days away from the best deals on school supplies courtesy of the annual state sales tax holidays. Consistent with prior years, we’ve compiled a list of states offering sales tax holidays for school supplies. Find out if your state is participating and/or has already released details.

The sales tax holiday limitations
Many states offer a specific tax exemption by product and up to a certain dollar amount. For instance, Texas offers a sales tax holiday for clothing, footwear and school backpacks that are less than $100. This does not include accessories, athletic or protective clothing or rentals. Also, even though state sales tax may be temporarily dropped, local sales tax at the city level may still be in effect.

Consumers should be wary of base price increases
Occasionally, businesses take advantage of consumers by raising prices to a level at or near the price before the sales tax holiday. For instance, rather than passing the sales tax savings onto the customer when a certain item like a back-pack is in high demand, they’ll actually raise prices to the equivalent of what it would have cost if there was not a sales tax holiday.

States                 2013 Dates            Max. Cost Per School Item
Alabama              Aug. 2-4                     $50

Arkansas             Aug. 3-4                     Unlimited

Connecticut         Aug. 18-24                  $300*

Florida                Aug. 2-4                     $15

Georgia               Aug. 9-10                     $20

Iowa                 Aug. 2-3                     $100

Louisiana            Aug. 2-3                     $2,500

Maryland            Aug. 11-17                 $100*

Mississippi           July 26-27                  $100*

Missouri              Aug. 2-4                    $50

New Mexico        Aug. 2-4                     $30

North Carolina     Aug. 2-4                     $100

Oklahoma        Aug. 2-4                     $100

South Carolina    Aug. 2-4                     Unlimited

Tennessee          Aug. 2-4                      $100

Texas                 Aug. 9-11                   $100

Virginia               Aug. 2-4                      $20

*:These states have provide a sales tax holiday for only clothes and not school specific supplies as compared to the other states listed.

More questions? Browse answers or ask sales tax questions online.

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