Back-to-school sales tax holidays around the corner

Several states around the South are offering sales tax holidays for back-to-school purchases this year, including four for the first time:

Four new states are offering holidays this year: Alabama, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia. New York, which held holidays in past years, now has a year-round exemption for clothing, footwear and items used to make or repair exempt clothing costing less than $110. In Massachusetts, a holiday has been proposed but not yet enacted.

In addition to these four states, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina will have sales tax holidays. The article gives a rundown of every state's program.

This could be particularly helpful in Tennessee, where sales taxes are the state's primary source of revenue, and the combined state and local sales tax can run as high as 9.75%. And unlike some other states such as Florida, groceries are not exempt.