A recent survey by the National Retail Foundation revealed that families plan to spend an average of $875 for children starting or returning to school. This time of year can be financially burdensome for many families across Arkansas. To ease this burden, we want to remind you about the upcoming Arkansas Sales Tax Holiday.

This year, the event starts at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, August 3, and continues until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 4.

Act 757 of 2011 established a sales tax holiday in Arkansas during the first weekend of August each year. During this period, state and local sales taxes are not collected on certain products.

Clothing items priced under $100 each and clothing accessories priced under $50 each are exempt from sales tax during this weekend. Accessories include handbags, cosmetics, jewelry, umbrellas, and more. Most school supplies, such as book bags, binders, paper, crayons, pencils, and rulers, are also tax-exempt.

In the 2021 Regular Session, we passed Act 944, which extended the sales tax holiday to include electronics. Examples of exempt electronics include calculators, desktop computers, cell phones, e-readers, laptops, monitors, printers, keyboards, and tablets. Video game systems and televisions are not included.

Statewide, the sales tax holiday is estimated to save Arkansans millions of dollars annually.

Online purchases of specified items will be tax-free as long as the transaction is processed between 12:01 a.m. on the 3rd and 11:59 p.m. on the 4th and the items are shipped to an Arkansas address.

The sales tax holiday was created to help Arkansas families. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. For a complete list of tax-exempt items and answers to frequently asked questions, visit arkansashouse.org.