Barrington Seeks Sales Tax Holiday Expansion

Senator Don Barrington, R-Lawton, said today he is authoring Senate Bill 723 that will expand his successful Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday to include school supplies and reference materials.

Under the current law, created by Barrington’s Senate Bill 861 in 2007, clothing and shoes valued at less than $100 can be purchased free of sales tax during the first weekend in August. Barrington introduced Senate Bill 861, which passed the Legislature with bipartisan support and received the governor’s signature, after years of failed attempts by other legislators.

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Tax-Free Weekend Coming Up

From The Senate Media Office ~ State Senator Don Barrington, the author of the law that created Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday, is excited about this weekend’s tax-free event after seeing how successful it was in 2007.

“Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday helps families save money on purchases of clothing and shoes, and it provides a boost to Oklahoma’s economy, too,” said Barrington, R-Lawton.

“Last year, the sales tax holiday performed exactly as many of us predicted: it boosted retail sales by a whopping $100 million for the month of August,” said Senator Jay Paul Gumm, who fought for years to pass the measure. “The holiday will do the same this year.”

Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday for 2008 runs from 12:01 a.m. this Friday, August 1 through midnight on Sunday, August 3.

“We created the back-to-school sales tax holiday to help Oklahomans save money on purchases of clothes and shoes, especially for parents of children who are about to go back to school,” stated Barrington. “Last year we also saw the tremendous economic benefit of the sales tax holiday as businesses had an increase in sales to shoppers of all ages,” he said.

In 2007 the Oklahoma Legislature overwhelmingly passed Barrington’s Senate Bill 861. The bill created a three-day sales tax holiday on the first weekend of August each year, making purchases of clothing and shoes up to $100 free of sales taxes.

Even though clothes and shoes are tax free during the holiday, last year’s event actually resulted in an overall increase in sales tax collections due to the extra business generated by shoppers over the weekend.

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House Clears Sales Tax Holiday Expansion

Parents would be able to buy school supplies tax-free this fall if legislation passed in the House today becomes law.

Senate Bill 1149, by Rep. Don Armes and Senator Don Barrington, would expand the state’s back to school sales tax holiday to include school supplies, school art supplies and school instructional materials. The exemption would be limited to items costing less than $100.

The legislation is estimated to save parents about $17 million annually once fully implemented.

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House Approves Sales Tax Holiday Expansion

The House has voted to expand the sales tax holiday for parents making back-to-school purchases for their children.

House Bill 3358, by Rep. Randy Terrill, expands Oklahoma's"sales tax holiday," conducted the first full weekend of each August, to include a tax break on school supplies.

The legislation also reduces the franchise tax on small businesses and guarantees the income tax cuts promised by Governor Henry and the Legislature in previous sessions.

House Bill 3358 would repeal the state's 4.5 percent sales tax on the purchase of school supplies so long as the combined purchases total no more than $100.

The holiday would cover items including binders, book bags, calculators, tape, crayons, erasers, glue, highlighters, lunch boxes, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, rulers and many other items.

The current tax holiday applies only to sales of clothing and footwear valued at less than $100 apiece.

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Senate Committee Advances Sales Tax Holiday Bill

Senator Don Barrington’s bill to expand Oklahoma’s back-to-school sales tax holiday to include school supplies was approved by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday.

Under current law, the sales tax holiday on the first weekend in August exempts clothing and shoes from sales tax.

Barrington’s Senate Bill 1149 expands the list of tax-exempt items to include school supplies beginning in August 2009. The bill was drafted so it would not impact the upcoming budget year.

“Oklahoma’s first sales tax holiday was a huge success for our state, which had been losing business to neighboring states like Texas. This bill will help parents save money on the school supplies they buy for their children each year,” stated Barrington, R-Lawton.

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Gumm: Sales Tax Holiday Increased Tax Revenues

Preliminary sales tax receipts from August show that Oklahoma’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday increased state revenues by boosting economic activity, according to the chief legislative proponent of the measure. Senator Jay Paul Gumm said that while saving parents millions of dollars on school clothing for their children, the three-day event in early August stimulated revenue growth for the state, exactly as supporters expected.

“Many of us predicted the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday would spur retail activity, and that is exactly what happened," Gumm said.

Gumm, a Democrat from Durant, was a co-author of the bill in the 2007 session of the Oklahoma Legislature that created the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. He fought to pass the measure for several years. Gumm helped shepherd the measure through the legislative process taking on opponents who argued that it would reduce state and local revenues.

It was reported Tuesday that sales tax revenue for August increased by $4.6 million over 2006 totals for the same month and came in $4.8 million over the official state revenue estimate.

“Rather than leading to a loss of revenue, the economic activity associated with the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday actually stimulated revenue growth for the state. A better description might be to say this was a policy that caused the sales tax boost to happen—just as predicted,” Gumm said.

“More importantly,” the senator said. “Oklahoma families got to save money on back-to-school clothes and Oklahoma retailers were able to take advantage of the holiday to increase sales. It was a ‘win-win’ for state government and the people.”

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Sales Tax Holiday Coming August 3rd

Governor Brad Henry today cleared the way for the state’s first sales tax holiday by signing the final administrative rules that will govern the new program. The three-day sales tax holiday will begin Friday, August 3. Purchases of clothing and footwear up to $100 will be exempt from the sales tax. The tax holiday will be an annual event the first weekend in August.

“This will help parents with their back-to-school shopping and give Oklahoma retailers a boost at the same time,” said Henry. “In past years, Oklahomans have taken their money to Texas to take advantage of that state’s sales tax holiday. There’s no reason to keep exporting Oklahoma retail dollars south of the Red River.”

The rules approved by the Governor today will allow the Oklahoma Tax Commission to administer the new program and the temporary suspension of the sales tax.

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Gumm Lauds Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday

Following is a statement by Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant, author of the “Back-to-School” sales tax holiday, about the proposal being part of the general budget agreement announced by legislative leaders: “Oklahoma families are a big winner in the budget agreement announced today. The ‘Back-to-School’ sales tax holiday is a tax cut that will make a real difference in people’s lives and help keep Oklahoma’s economy strong. We talk a lot about ‘family values’ at the Capitol, but this is a tax cut that truly values families.”

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