Parts of state to hold sales tax holiday
One of Missouri's two annual sales tax holidays will be going on this weekend. From Friday to Sunday, items relating to school supplies will not be subject to the 4.225 percent state sales tax.
Although shoppers in Columbia will not have to pay the state sales tax during the weekend, they will still be required to pay the city's sales tax of 3.325 percent. The law establishing the tax free weekend allows for all sales taxes to be waived, but it also lets individual cities choose whether they participate in the holiday.
According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, clothing that is $100 or less, purchases of school supplies that are less than $50 and laptops that are less than $3,500 are all exempt from state sales tax. Computer software costing less than $350 and computer accessories that are less than $3,500 are also sales tax free.
According to the MDR Web site, some of the closest cities to Columbia that are participating in the holiday are Centralia and Mexico. For these, and other participating towns, the local sales tax will not be added to the purchase price of the qualifying items.
The state's other sales tax holiday takes place in April and exempts energy efficient appliances from sales taxes.