Tax-free weekend ushers in school year

Arkansas’ annual sales tax holiday arrives again this weekend to help families prepare for the 2017-18 school year.

State and local sales tax will not be collected between 12:01 a.m. Saturday through

11:59 p.m. Sunday. The state does not limit the amount of items that can be purchased during the 48-hour period.

The tax-free holiday applies to the sale of clothing and footwear at prices less than

$100 per item, clothing accessories and equipment at prices less than $50 per item, school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional materials.

Exempt clothing items include all human wearing apparel suitable for general use, such as aprons, athletic supporters, bathing suits and caps, belts and suspenders, boots, coats and jackets, diapers, gloves and mittens, hats, insoles, neckties, sandals, shoes and shoe laces, socks, and underwear.

Clothing accessories and equipment in-

cludes incidental items worn on the person or in conjunction with clothing. These items include briefcases, cosmetics, handbags, jewelry, nonprescription sunglasses, umbrellas, wallets and watches.

School supplies items are commonly used by students in a course of study. Exempt items include binders, book bags, calculators, compasses, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, highlighters, index cards, legal pads, lunchboxes, markers, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, rulers, and scissors.

School art supplies exempt during the holiday include clay and glazes, paints, paintbrushes for artwork, sketch pads, drawing pads and watercolors.

Reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks and workbooks are exempted as school instructional materials, which are used by students as references to learn the subjects they are taught.

The full lists are available on the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration website at http://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/offices/exciseTax/salesanduse/ Documents/holidayItemized.pdf. Customer service representatives for the DFA’s Sales and Use Tax office will be available today and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 501-682-7104.

Hawk’s Nest Books & Gear, the newly renamed National Park College campus store, will participate in the event for the first time this year. The store will be open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We are optimistic that many of our students will take advantage of the tax break,” said Donna Nevill, the store manager. “Our intent is to better serve our NPC students by offering this extra savings opportunity and foster customer loyalty.”

The United Way of the Ouachitas’ Stuff the Bus campaign coincides with the tax-free weekend. Teams of volunteers will collect donated school supplies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Walmart Supercenters at 4109 Central Ave. and 1601 Albert Pike Road, as well as the Hot Springs Village location at 3604 Highway 7 north.

Executive Director Jane Browning said the organization divides all donations equally among the seven public school districts in Garland County. Schools that do provide supplies for students are able to utilize the donations as backups throughout the year.

Lake Hamilton, Lakeside, Hot Springs, Mountain Pine and Cutter Morning Star provide all basic school supplies students need throughout the day. Campuses with one-to-one initiatives also provide students with laptop computers. Families in Mountain Pine and some other districts are responsible for backpacks.

Donations to the Jessieville School District are divided between the three campuses to provide supplies for students in need. Several churches in the district also donate supplies.

Jessieville’s parents are asked to donate supplies such as paper, pencils and other items to meet classroom needs in the elementary school. Middle school and high school students will use one large binder for multiple classrooms. The district now utilizes Google Classroom and other online platforms, which decreases the demand for paper.

Student needs vary by campus in the Bismarck School District. Donations from local churches, civic groups and other organizations are divided among the schools for students in need.

The United Way collected more than 11,000 items and about $2,000 in monetary donations during last year’s Stuff the Bus.

Districts in Garland County will begin their final week of preparations on Monday with a joint event for teachers at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Student will return to campuses at most schools in the area on Aug. 14. Bismarck’s first day is scheduled for Aug. 15.