No Illinois Sales Tax Back To School Tax Holiday

On July 7th, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation waiving state sales taxes on all back-to-school related purchases for the week of August 6 through August 15, 2010. This is a first-ever sales tax amnesty for all of Illinois.

Municipal and county taxes will NOT be waived. Only the Illinois state sales tax of 5% will.

This plan will undoubtedly generate heavy back-to-school sales volume for area stores. It is most-likely in your best interest to make your necessary school-related purchases EARLY that week. Last year, I was amazed at how quickly many key school supplies were sold-out in area stores.

REMEMBER: THIS ONLY APPLIES TO SCHOOL-RELATED ITEMS.

Some examples of items that would be eligible for the tax amnesty include:

  • Clothing (w/ price less than $100 – per item)
  • Footwear / Shoes
  • Backpacks
  • Binders
  • Folders
  • Lunch Boxes
  • Pencils

Examples of items NOT eligible for the tax relief include:

  • Computer
  • Electronic storage media
  • Textbooks
  • Sports equipment
  • Clothing items costing more than $100

The complete details relating to the Illinois State Sales Tax Holiday can be found here (requires Adobe Reader).

Don’t miss this opportunity to save some money…  If you can hold off on making purchases that will qualify, it would obviously be best to wait until August 6th.