What you need to know about the tax-free weekend in Arkansas, Missouri

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -School supplies can be expensive, and if you need to save a few dollars, you might want to do your shopping this weekend. State sales taxes are not applied to certain purchases, like clothing, computers, and school supplies.

You can save up to 8% on purchases by participating in the tax-free weekend.

This doesn’t apply to all the items on your back-to-school list. Headphones, tissues, zip lock bags, and accessories will have state sales tax applied. You don’t have to be a teacher or student anyone can take advantage of the savings. Experts at consumer credit counseling have these tips to help shoppers save this weekend.

Take advantage of back-to-school prices and buy in bulk. If you know you’ll need paper later in the year, purchase a few extra this weekend.

When you’re trying to come up with your list of what you need versus what you want, you’re going to have those items that are still in good shape from previous years,” said Holly Wilson, Director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service. ” To your point, we don’t need to buy a calculator, a ruler, you know some of those items will last year over year. So collect those items first. Make sure you’ve identified that you have those so when you’re looking at your list of items that the school has provided, you can check those off.”

The other thing is to buy generic items that may be cheaper than the name brand.

“When it comes to making those purchases of things that you know that that is going to be consumed rather quickly, those items you for sure want to go to generic, things that need to have a little more lasting power,” said Wilson. “Maybe you look at price value and just how well that backpack or those lunchboxes will be able to sustain a full year.”

The main thing you need to do to avoid a shock at the checkout is to make a budget.

“They need to create a budget exactly how much they want to spend and stick to the list,” said Wilson. “So, in other words, you know, if you’re looking at school supplies and you have that list, well, that would be the core that you need to build everything out from.”

If you live in Missouri, you can start saving on your school supply list Friday; in Arkansas, you must wait until Saturday. The tax-free weekend only applies to State sales tax. Below is a list of cities and counties where local sales tax still applies.

Cities

Counties

For more information on the tax-free weekend, CLICK HERE.

Arkansas tax-free weekend is August 6-7.

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