The financial impact for local families preparing to send their kids off to school or college will be a bit less severe this weekend.

The annual North Carolina sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 3 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 5. Shoppers can save money on certain purchases of items like clothing, school supplies and computers.

The popular event exempts sales tax from being charged on clothing, footwear, and school supplies of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials of $300 or less per item; sports and recreational equipment of $50 or less per item; computers of $3,500 or less per item; and computer supplies of $250 or less per item. Tablet computers and netbooks of $3,500 or less per item qualify; eReaders do not.

Items are not necessarily exempt from sales tax just because they are required by a child’s school or sports team.  Visit NCDOR’s website for a complete list of items that qualify.

Clothing accessories, jewelry, cosmetics, protective equipment, wallets, furniture, items used in a trade or business, and rentals are not covered by the exemption and will be subject to the applicable tax.

Participation in the sales tax holiday is required; retailers cannot opt out. Retailers may not charge sales tax on exempt items sold during the holiday and tell shoppers to request a refund from the Department of Revenue. In cases where the sales tax is charged on purchases that should be exempt, a customer’s only option to obtain a refund is from the retailer.

Discounts from retailers’ coupons are deducted from the price of an item before determining if the item is eligible for the sales tax exemption. Example: a customer buys a dress priced at $105 and uses a retailer’s coupon for a 10 percent discount. The discounted sales price of the dress is $94.50 ($105.00 – $10.50 = $94.50) and the dress is exempt from sales tax if purchased during the holiday. Manufacturers’ coupons are treated just the opposite way and are not deducted from the sales price before determining an item’s eligibility for the sales tax exemption.

Rebates do not affect the sales price of an item for the sales tax holiday. Example: a computer priced at $4,000 with a $600 rebate is not exempt from sales taxes. The amount of the rebate is not deducted from the sales price of the computer before determining if the computer is eligible for the sales tax exemption.

Please call NCDOR’s Taxpayer Assistance Division at 1-877-252-3052 with questions.

The North Carolina General Assembly enacted the holiday in 2002 as a way to help consumers stretch their dollars during a difficult economy as they purchased necessities for the school year.