Tax holiday

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. The taxes that are most commonly reduced by national and local governments are sales taxes. In developing countries, governments sometimes reduce or eliminate corporate taxes for the purpose of attracting Foreign Direct Investment or stimulating growth in selected industries.

Tax holiday is given in respect of particular activities, and sometimes also only in particular areas with a view to develop that area of business.

1 Sales tax holidays in the United States
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Sales tax holidays in the United States

The statewide sales tax holiday was first pioneered in 1999 in Texas, and since then, the initiative has been adopted by thirteen states. It commonly takes place as a form of tax-free weekend lasting Friday through Sunday, usually during a major shopping period for necessities, such as just before school starts. During that period, sales tax is not collected on selected items, such as clothing and school supplies. The items subject to the sales tax exemption may also be restricted by price (for example, clothing up to $100), but consumers are free to buy unlimited quantity of items.

State	Items Included	Period	Days
Alabama	clothing, computers, school supplies, books	1st weekend in August	3
Connecticut	clothing	3rd week in August	7
District of Columbia	clothing, school supplies	August and November	9
Georgia	clothing, school supplies, computers	1st weekend of August	4
Florida	hurricane supplies and equipment	First 12 days of June	12
Florida	clothing, school supplies	August 4-13	9^[1]
Iowa	clothing	1st weekend of August	2
Massachusetts^[2]	school supplies, computers, sports equipment, health & beauty aid	2nd weekend of August	2
Missouri	clothing, school supplies, computers	1st weekend in August	-
New Mexico	clothing, school supplies, computers	1st weekend of August	3
North Carolina	clothing, school supplies, computers, sport equipment	1st weekend of August	3
Oklahoma	clothing	August	3
South Carolina	clothing, school supplies, computers	1st weekend of August	3
Tennessee	clothing, school supplies, computers	1st weekend of August	3
Texas^[3]	clothing, diapers, backpacks (School supplies recently removed from itemlist)	3rd weekend of August	3
Virginia	clothing, school supplies	1st weekend of August	3

Five states in the U.S. (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon) do not impose sales taxes at all. See Sales taxes in the United States for details.