Doing back to school shopping? New Jersey wants to help make it a bit more manageable, financially speaking.
The state's sales tax holiday takes place from Aug. 26 until Sept. 4, which is Labor Day. During that time, select school supplies, electronics and sports or recreational equipment can be purchased in the state without having the sales tax added to the final price.
It initially may not sound like much, as saving 6.625% on a smaller item may not add a lot to shoppers' pockets. But it can be combined with sales and deals already in place at stores, and can mean decent savings if the purchase is for something like, say, a laptop. For example, an $1,800 computer would come with almost a $120 discount when sales tax is not added.
However, there are some rules that come with the sales tax holiday. Here's a list of eligible items and what rules apply when buying certain things:
Computers:
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
- Computers must cost less than $3,000. Those above that threshold are still subject to the state sales tax
School art supplies:
- Clay and glazes
- Paints (including acrylic, tempera and oil)
- Paintbrushes
- Watercolors
- Sketch and drawing pads
Computer supplies:
- Computer storage media, diskettes and compact discs
- Handheld electronic schedulers
- Personal digital assistant
- Computer printers
- Printer supplies for computers, printer paper, printer ink
An important note with these items: The schedulers and digital assistants cannot be cellphones, which are not eligible for the sales tax holiday. Also, the sales price of of these items must be less than $1,000.
Instructional Materials:
- Reference books
- Workbooks
- Reference maps and globes
- Textbooks
School supplies:
- Binders
- Book bags/backpacks
- Calculators
- Cellophane tape
- Blackboard chalk
- Compasses
- Composition books
- Crayones
- Erasers
- Folders (expandable, pocket, plastic and manila)
- Glue, paste, paste sticks
- Highlighters
- Index cards and index card boxes
- Legal pads
- Lunch boxes
- Markers
- Paper (loose leaf ruled notebook, copy, graph, tracing, manila, colored, construction, and poster board)
- Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes
- Pencil sharpeners
- Pens/pencils
- Protractors
- Rulers
- Scissors
- Writing tablets
Sports or recreational equipment:
- Athletic shoes (cleated or spiked)
- Ballet and tap shoes
- Gloves (baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey and golf)
- Goggles
- Guards (hand or elbow)
- Helmets (bike, sport)
- Life preservers and vests
- Mouth guards
- Shin guards
- Shoulder pads
- Skates (roller and ice)
- Ski boots
- Waders
- Wetsuits and fins
The state also put out a list of FAQs regarding the sales tax holiday for any additional questions.
