For Immediate Release
Date: August 12, 2004
Contact: Jessica Robinson
Phone: (573) 751-8222

Sales Tax Holiday Includes More Than Back to School

(Missouri) – From 12:01 a.m. Friday, August 13 until midnight Sunday, August 15 clothing, school supplies, and computers (as defined by Section 144.049, RSMo) will be exempt from state sales tax.  The exemption applies to all qualifying items, regardless if the item will be used for back-to-school.  In areas where local jurisdictions are not participating in the holiday, state sales tax will still be exempt and only the local tax will apply.  A list of local tax jurisdictions not participating in the Sales Tax Holiday is available online at: http://dor.mo.gov/tax/business/sales/taxholiday/. 

The sales tax exemption applies to:
Clothing – any article having a taxable value of $100 or less;
School supplies – not to exceed $50 per purchase;
Computer software – taxable value of $200 or less per purchase; and
Personal computers and computer peripheral devices  – not to exceed $2,000. 

Section 144.049, RSMo, defines items exempt during the Sales Tax Holiday as:

“Clothing” - any article of wearing apparel, including footwear, intended to be worn on or about the human body.  The term shall include but not be limited to cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing.  Items normally sold in pairs shall not be separated to qualify for the exemption.  The term shall not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles. 

“School supplies” - any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes, including but not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps, and globes.  The term shall not include watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures.  School supplies shall also include computer software having a taxable value of $200 or less.

“Personal computers” - a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, and a keyboard and devices designed for use in conjunction with a personal computer, such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitalizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card.

For questions regarding the Sales Tax Holiday, businesses and customers may call (573) 751-2836.