Attention all shoppers: Connecticut’s “Sales Tax Holiday” begins Aug. 19, giving back-to-school and other shoppers a seven-day hiatus from paying the state sales tax on clothing and footwear up to $300.
Tax free week this year will run from Sunday, Aug. 19, to Saturday, Aug. 25. It is sponsored by the state’s Department of Revenue Services, whose website has a comprehensive list of the rules regarding tax-free week.
The weeklong tax holiday is geared toward back-to-school shopping and is intended to give parents a temporary break when buying their children’s school clothing. The program exempts the state’s sales tax on most clothing and footwear that costs under $300.
The one-week tax holiday applies to sales made in-state by Connecticut retailers, to online purchases, by out-of-state retailers who are required to collect sales and use tax from Connecticut customers, and “purchases by Connecticut customers on which they would otherwise be required to self-assess use tax,” the DOR website states.
There are restrictions to the tax holiday program. The tax exemption will not apply to accessories and jewelry, or clothing and footwear primarily designed and marketed for athletic use. The tax exclusion, however, can be applied to layaways on clothing and shoes made during the tax-free week.
For local businessowners, tax-free week met with varying success in 2011. "I don't think my customers' buying habits have changed all that much," Patricia Agranoff, owner of in Woodbury
Jack Coutts, manager of the in Brookfield, on the other hand, said that his store saw increased traffic. "The visits definitely increased in the last three days, and Sunday was pretty good also," he said.
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