Back-to-school supplies will be tax-free in New Jersey for the next 10 days as part of a statewide sales tax holiday that began Saturday.
From now until Sept. 5, New Jersey will waive its 6.625% sales tax on a range of back-to-school items, including supplies and computers, as well as sports and recreational equipment.
Anyone shopping in the Garden State — not just students or residents — can take advantage of the holiday, and waivers apply to online and in-store purchases. But sales tax will only be exempt on items sold to an individual for non-commercial use, and some items must be below a certain selling price to be included.
The one-time initiative is expected to cost the state about $75 million in lost tax revenue, and the average family can expect to save about $25 to $50 on a typical back-to-school shopping trip, according to the estimates cited. by state legislators.
You can find a list of included categories below, along with all selling price limits, and the New Jersey Department of Treasury has created an information page on its Division of Taxation website.
Here is an overview of the items you can purchase duty free, with a brief description of the condition and any additional requirements
- Some computers: The tax will only be exempt on computers with a selling price of less than $3,000. Computers priced at $3,000 or more remain subject to sales tax during the holidays.
- School art supplies: Tax exemptions apply to “items commonly used by a student in a program of study for works of art”. This includes common art supplies like paints, watercolors, and sketchbooks that can be used inside or outside of school.
- School computer supplies: The tax exemptions apply to “items commonly used by a student in a program of study in which a computer is used”. The tax will only be exempt on computer supplies with a selling price of less than $1,000. This category includes, among others, printers, printer supplies and storage media.
- School teaching materials: The tax exemptions apply to “written materials commonly used by a student in a program of study as a reference for learning the subject matter”. This category includes, among other things, textbooks, terrestrial globes and reference documents.
- School supplies: The tax exemptions apply to “items commonly used by a student in a program of study”. This category includes a long list of basic school necessities like notebooks, writing utensils, pencils and erasers, as well as school bags, calculators and tape, to name a few.
- Sports or leisure equipment: The tax exemptions apply to “items designed for human use and worn in connection with sporting or recreational activity which are not suitable for general use”. This category includes the necessary equipment for school sports, as well as a wide range of leisure items such as skates, ski boots, wetsuits and waders, among others.
You can find more information on the Division of Taxation website, including a list of frequently asked questions and additional items under each category.
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Derek Room can be attached to dhall@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @dereknhall.
