Don't Mess With Taxes

Here's a quick reminder for tax-savvy shoppers in a couple of southern states:

• Georgia's four-day sales tax holiday begins today.
• Mississippi kicks off its two day no-tax event tomorrow.

The Peach State holiday runs through Sunday, Aug. 2, and allows shoppers to purchase certain pieces of apparel (costing $100 or less), computers and accessories (with a $1,500 limit) and, in keeping with the back-to-school hook, some school supplies (priced at $20 or less).

The Georgia Department of Revenue provides detailed lists of tax-exempt items for each product segment -- clothing and shoes, computers and classroom material. From those pages, you can click to see what items will still be taxed during the tax holiday period.

When Mississippi's tax holiday begins early July 31, shoppers can avoid sales taxes on articles of clothing or footwear as long as the price of each item is less than $100.00.

Magnolia State officials don't provide detailed lists, but do offer examples of what is and isn't tax free on a special sales tax holiday Web page.

Also note that the Mississippi event ends at the stroke of midnight Saturday night.

These two holidays are appetizers for a banquet offered by 13 other states with similar events, most of which kick off next week. To plan accordingly, check out my earlier post, Back-to-school tax holidays on tap, which includes a table with links to all the participating states.