Don't Mess With Taxes

How do you plan to spend your three-day Labor Day break? Some folks will go shopping.

And if they're shopping in Louisiana and Mississippi for firearms, they'll save some tax dollars.

At 12:01 a.m. today, Friday, Sept. 4, cash registers in those two states stopped added sales tax charges to certain firearm, ammunition and hunting supply purchases. The tax-free status remains in effect until midnight Sunday, Sept. 6.

Both Louisiana and Mississippi officials have dubbed the three no-tax days as Second Amendment sales tax holidays. But rather than, for the most part, having to do with a well-regulated militia, the tax-free products generally appeal to hunters, at least from an advertising standpoint.

Louisiana tax-free products: In the Pelican State, the sales tax holiday applies to individuals' purchases of firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies.

Firearms that qualify for the sales tax exemption include shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers, or other handguns, which may be legally sold or purchased in Louisiana. Ammunition intended to be fired from a gun or firearm is eligible for the sales tax exemption.

Hunting supplies are eligible for the Louisiana sales tax exemption, but only those items designed and used for hunting. Among the eligible hunting supplies are:

• Archery items, such as bows, crossbows, arrows, quivers and shafts;
• Off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles designed and intended primarily for hunting;
• Watercraft, such as air boats and pirogues (that's the classic canoe, not the pierogies you stuffed in your lunch bag for the outdoor excursion) that are designed and intended for hunting; and
• Apparel, including safety gear, camouflage clothing, jackets, hats, gloves, mittens, face masks, hunting boots, and thermal underwear manufactured and marketed as being primarily for wear or use while hunting. 

The Louisiana Department of Revenue has a detailed list of items that do and don't qualify for the sales tax break through Sunday.

A few notable still-taxed items include golf carts, go-carts, dirt bikes, mini-bikes, motorcycles, tractors, motor vehicles which may be legally driven on the streets and highways of Louisiana.

You'll also still have to pay Louisiana sales tax on heavy equipment, such as cranes, forklifts, backhoes and bulldozers, even if for some reason you use that machinery to, say, build a really, really solid hunting blind.

And while your retriever may be your best buddy and critical to your hunting trips, you cannot purchase a tax-free hunting dog this weekend.

Mississippi tax-free items: The Magnolia State has a similar list of sales tax-free (and still taxable) items.

Basically, you won't owe Mississippi sales tax on certain firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies.

Eligible hunting supplies include archery equipment, firearm and archery cases, firearm and archery accessories, ammunition, hearing protection, holsters, belts and slings that are used when heading out to bag game.

Mississippi, however, is a little more limited than its neighbor as to what hunting-related items are tax free.

The state's sales tax will still be added to apparel such as safety gear, camouflage clothing, jackets, boots, hats, gloves and thermal underwear bought this weekend.

Boats and vehicles to get you to your favorite hunting spot remain taxable.

Don't look for a tax break on general weapon-related items. Gun racks, safes and cabinets are still taxable.

And if you buy a new hunting dog this weekend, the price of the pup also is taxable.

Still, if it's mainly weapons and ammo you're searching for, you could save some tax dollars in Louisiana and Mississippi this Labor Day weekend.

You also might find these items of interest:

• 18 states hold sales tax holidays in summer of 2015
• Gun tax holidays a tradition in Louisiana, Mississippi
• NRA lawsuit takes aim at Seattle's new gun and ammo taxes