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This page covers the 2010 Sales Tax Holiday Schedule.

Sales tax holidays have gained in popularity in recent years, in part because of the economy but mostly because everyone wants to get a good deal, and more and more states are starting to get in the fun. It will be interesting to see what states do this year as many are seeing budget shortfalls as a result of sagging home prices. It’s a trade-off between boosting the economy and surrendering tax revenue (and politicians voting against very popular sales tax holidays!), it’ll be interesting to see as we start to near the usual “full swing” period of sales tax holidays.

There are usually three different types of sales tax holidays: hurricane preparedness, clothing and school supplies, and energy efficient appliances.Hurricane preparedness sales tax holidays usually occur in late April or May. Clothing and school supplies sales tax holidays are almost always in the period before school starts, so sometime in August. Finally, Energy efficiency tax sales appear in the winter and last several months.

The state names link to the state’s Department of Revenue or some other resource that explains the sales tax holiday in detail:

• Alabama ^[3] – August 6-8, covers clothing <$100 per item, computers/software/computer supplies <$750, school supplies <$50 per item, books <$30 per item. Not all counties participate so here's the list of participating counties in Alabama ^[4].
• Connecticut ^[5] – August 15-21, clothing and footwear <$300.
• District of Columbia ^[6] -No Sales Tax Holiday, it was repealed. [repealed]
• Florida ^[7] – August 13-15, books, clothing and footwear <$50 and school supplies <$10.
• Georgia ^[8] – The sales tax bill stalled in the legislature, no 2010 sales tax holiday. [legislation stalled]
• Iowa ^[9] – August 6-7, covers clothing/footwear <$100 per item.
• Louisiana ^[10] – Two sales tax holidays during the year. The first is usually the first Friday and Saturday in August (August 6-7, 2010) for “tangible personal property for non-business use” for items less than $2,500. The second in the end of May is on hurricane preparedness items less than $1,500 (May 29-30, 2010).
• Maryland ^[11] – August 8-14, clothing or footwear <$100 excluding accessory items (jewelry, watches, handbags, etc.). In 2011, February 19-21, there will be an Energy Star Product weekend with no sales tax collected on sales of eligible items.
• Massachusetts ^[12] – August 14-15 will be tax free weekend, Gov. Patrick signed the bill ^[13] for a sales tax holdiay on August 5th.
• Mississippi ^[14] – July 30 – 31, clothing/footwear <$100.
• Missouri ^[15] – August 6-8, clothing <$100 each, school supplies <$50 each, computer/equipment <$3500. Also, Missouri sales tax holiday on energy star products (April 19-25), called the Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday ^[16].
• New Mexico ^[17] – August 6-8, clothing/footwear <$100 each, school supplies <$15 each, computers <$1000 and computer equipment <$500.
• North Carolina ^[18] – August 6-8, covers clothing <$100 per item, school instructional materials <$300 per item, sports & rec equipment <$50 per item, computers/software/computer supplies <$250 per item. November 5-7 for qualified energy star rated appliances for non-business purposes.
• Oklahoma ^[19] – August 6-8, covers clothing/footwear <$100 each.
• Rhode Island – The fate of Rhode Island’s sales tax holiday is still unknown.
• South Carolina ^[20] – August 6-8, exempts clothing, school supplies computers & computer software, towels, sheets, and other items. October 1-31 exempts certain qualified Energy Star items for personal use less than $2,5000.
• Tennessee ^[21] – August 6-8 – Clothing <$100 per item, School and Art Supplies <$100 per item, and Computers <$1500 per bundled package
• Texas ^[22] – August 20-22, clothing/footwear <$100, backpacks <$100; May 23-25 exempts certain energy star qualified products.
• Virginia ^[23] – There are three holidays for 2010 in May, August, and October. May 25-31, designated hurricane preparedness equiment priced <$60 per item and portable generators priced <$1,000 per item. August 6-8, back-to-school sales tax holiday on school supplies <$20 per item and clothing & footwear <$100 per item. Finally, October 8-11, energy savings sales tax holiday on Energy Star Qualified products including appliances purchased for noncommercial home or personal use <$2,500 each.
• West Virginia ^[24] – September 1 – November 30, exempts energy star products up to $5,000.

And for those of you who live in Pennsylvania, consider yourself lucky as you have a clothing and footwear sales tax holiday from January 1st to December 31st!

If you’re curious how the sales tax holidays have changed, here is 2008′s sales tax holiday schedule ^[25] and 2009′s sales tax holiday schedule ^[26].

(photo by brook ^[27])