ADF sets sales tax holiday for this weekend
Allows residents tax free shopping for specific back to school items
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration announced that the 2021 Sales Tax Holiday will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7 and will end at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 8.
The Sales Tax holiday allows shoppers the opportunity to buy certain electronic devices, school supplies, school art supplies, school instructional materials and clothing free of state and local sales or use taxes.
According to the ADFA website, all retailers are required to participate and may not charge tax on items that are legally tax-exempt during the sales tax holiday.
Items that are exempt from tax collections during the holiday include clothing items less than $100 per item, clothing accessories or equipment less than $50 per item, electronic devices such as calculators, cell phones, computers, e-readers, printers and tablets, school supplies, school art supplies such as clay and glazes, paints, paintbrushes, sketch and drawing pads and watercolors and school instructional materials such as reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks and workbooks.
The ADFA defines clothing as Any article of human wearing apparel suitable for general use with a sales price of less than $100 per item. Clothing does not include belt buckles that are sold separately, costume masks that are sold separately, patches and emblems, sewing equipment and materials that become part of clothing, protective equipment or sport and recreational equipment. Clothing accessories or equipment is defined as an item worn on the person or in conjunction with clothing with a sales price of less than $50 per item. An electronic device is defined as an electronic item commonly used by a student in a course of study. The ADFA defines school supplies as items commonly used by a student in a course of study and school art supplies as items commonly used in the course of study for artwork.
Items that are taxable during the tax free weekend include sewing equipment and supplies such as knitting needles, patterns, pins, scissors, sewing machines, sewing needles, tape measures, thimbles, buttons, fabric, lace, thread, yarn and zippers; protective equipment such as breathing masks, clean room apparel and equipment, ear and hearing protectors, face shields, hard hats, helmets, paint or dust respirators, protective gloves, safety glasses and goggles, safety belts, tool belts, welder's gloves and masks; sport or recreational equipment such as ballet and tap shoes, cleated or spiked athletic shoes, baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey and golf gloves, goggles, hand and elbow guards, life preservers and vests, mouth guards, roller and ice skates, shin guards, shoulder pads, ski boots, waders, wetsuits and fins.