If you need a new shirt, a pair of pants or some sneakers, this is the time to go shopping.
What’s known as the State of Iowa’s Sales Tax Holiday is underway today and tomorrow. John Fuller, the spokesman for the Iowa Department of Revenue, says the rules are fairly straightforward.
“Generally, if they buy any item of clothing or any footwear that’s less than $100 per item, that will not have state sales tax,” Fuller says. “If they have specific items that they’re looking for, they can go to tax.iowa.gov, and there’s a list of what’s taxable and what’s not.”
Iowa shoppers are about to enter their second decade of these sales tax holidays. “It started about 19 or 20 years ago through legislative action,” Fuller says. “The lawmakers decided that this would be a good thing for Iowans.”
Iowans who prefer to do their browsing for new duds on the computer instead of in the store are also in for a discount. “Online purchases have the same rules,” Fuller says, “so as long as you select your item and pay for it during that time period, there should be no state sales tax on that.”
The tax-free weekend is in place from 12:01 a.m. Friday through 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
(Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City contributed to this report.)