Sales Tax Holiday in Arkansas for Aug. 6 and 7: What to know

Story from KARK: “Back to school” rarely meets the term “save money,” but that will change Aug. 6 weekend with the Arkansas Sales Tax Holiday.

The weekend, officially from 12:01 a.m. Aug. 6 to 11:59 p.m. Aug. 7, no state and local taxes are charged at the register on certain items. This also applies to online purchases made during this time frame.

• Clothing under $100
• Clothing accessories under $50
  • Handbags, cosmetics, jewelry, umbrellas, all that, as long as it is under $50.
• School supplies
  • This falls under the $50 accessory rule and extends to backpacks, paper, binders, notepaper, pencils, rulers, and items like this.
• Electronics
  • Calculators, desktop computers, cell phones, e-readers, computer mice, laptops, monitors, printers, and more.
  • Video game systems are NOT included in this category.

The Arkansas legislature provides a full list of tax-exempt items [pdf] for the weekend, as well as frequently asked questions [pdf] about it.

Arkansas legislature Act 757 put the sales tax holiday in place. An article of clothing for less than $100 will not be taxed during the weekend. No loopholes here, a $110 pair of jeans is taxed both state and local at its $110 value.

Total saving for the weekend for Arkansas back-to-school consumers is expected to reach $650,000.