Back-to-school sales tax holidays start July 31

Georgia's annual back-to-school sales tax holiday period is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 3. During that four- day period, school supplies, clothing items, computers and computer accessories and will be exempt from both state and local sales tax.

The annual sales tax holidays help working families with back-to-school expenses for their children and provide Georgia retailers with a boost in summer sales.

Clothing and shoes are exempt up to $100 per item, but there is no limit on how many pairs of shoes and/or clothing items an individual may buy. The exemption also applies to the purchase of general school supplies with a sales price of $20 or less per item.

Purchases of personal computers and accessories are exempt up to $1,500 per transaction. Items included in the personal computer category include monitors, personal computer base units, keyboards, handheld computers, monitors, printers, modems, non-recreational software and other peripheral devices. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are exempt unless they allow voice communication.

A separate sales tax holiday period for energy-efficient appliances is scheduled for Oct. 2-5.