Tax Freedom Weekend a 48 hour reprieve from Sales Taxes

Today and tomorrow are special days for some shoppers. It’s “tax freedom weekend” in Iowa, which means most cheap and moderately-priced apparel can be purchased without paying state sales tax. Renee Mulvey of the Iowa Department of Revenue says this is the fifth-annual “tax freedom weekend” in Iowa, and Iowans have been saving a chunk of change. Mulvey says state officials didn’t review last year’s data, but estimate Iowans in the past five years have saved between one- and two-MILLION dollars, each year, in sales tax payments they didn’t have to make on shoes and clothes purchased during “tax freedom weekend.” Is there evidence Iowans put off purchases ’til this weekend? Mulvey says the state doesn’t have data that shows that, but going by what businesses tell state officials, she says “they do get excited about the sales tax holiday because it does bring in people those two days in August that they don’t otherwise see in an August.” Mulvey says if you have access to the Internet, you can find a list of what can be purchased tax-free today and tomorrow (Friday and Saturday). The address is www.state.ia.us/tax, and there’s a link to sales tax holiday information. The official start of “Tax Freedom Weekend” was at 12:01 this morning and it’ll end at midnight Saturday. During this 48-hour-period, shoppers will not pay sales tax or local option sales taxes when they buy clothes or shoes priced under $100.