House of Representatives

State of Tennessee

 

Contact: Kara Watkins (615) 741-1975

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tax Holiday will boost businesses and begin to give consumers some relief says Rep. Donna Rowland

(NASHVILLE, TN, July 18, 2006) -- Local businesses and consumers will get a boost from the “Sales Tax Holiday” set to begin August 4 in Tennessee according to Rep. Donna Rowland (R - Murfreesboro), a strong supporter of the bill.  Rep. Rowland was among legislators pushing for tax relief during the 104^th General Assembly, including passage of a Sales Tax Holiday in August and one for a date next Spring.

“This holiday will be a boost for businesses, while giving consumers some tax relief,” said Rep. Rowland.  “I am pleased that it was approved and that we were able to extend the holiday to another date next spring.  However, our efforts at tax relief do not need to end there, we need to continue to push for ways to return surplus revenues to our citizens.”

Rep. Rowland said the local businesses can begin the holiday at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, which would end at 11:59 p.m. on the following Sunday.  During the holiday, clothing and school supplies with a price of $100 or less per item, and computers with a price of $1,500 or less per item will be exempt from the state sales and use tax.  Clothing includes shirts, dresses, pants, coats, gloves, hats and caps, hosiery, neckties, belts, sneakers, shores, uniforms and scarves.  School supplies include items used by a student in a course of study.  It also includes binders, book bags, calculators, tape, chalk, crayons, erasers, folders, glue, pens, pencils, lunch boxes, notebooks, paper, ruler, and scissors.

States that have state sales tax holidays scheduled for the August 4^th weekend include Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.  Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia have other time periods for similar sales tax holidays.

“The sales tax holiday and the amendment to give our elderly and disabled citizens property tax relief is a good start at our efforts to give citizens tax relief,” Rep. Rowland concluded.