Sun staff
Clermont County residents can take advantage of Ohio’s first tax holiday on back-to-school purchases of clothing and school supplies August 7-9.
“Sales tax holidays are generally a southern state phenomenon. No states in the Midwest have adopted them,” said Ohio Council of Retail Merchants Director of Governmental Affairs and Public Relations Lora Miller. “We know that during back to school time, Ohioans who live in northeastern Ohio were crossing into Pennsylvania to shop, which has no sales tax on clothing anytime.”
She added, “We wanted Ohio consumers to benefit from tax free sales, just as other states do.”
Legislation passed last year exempts Ohio consumers from paying sales tax on all clothing and footwear up to $75 per item and school supplies and instructional materials up to $20 per item during the tax holiday.
“Our council has been lobbying for this legislation for about 15 years, and those who live in northern Kentucky, eastern Indiana and southern Michigan will also benefit,” Miller said.
She added, “Everyone can take advantage of the sales tax holiday.”
When the OCRM commissioned the University of Cincinnati Economics Center to study how a state tax holiday would affect Ohio’s economy, it concluded that there would be no substantial loss in revenue, according to Miller.
“This tax holiday will benefit Ohio businesses and consumers,” said Miller. “The UC Economics Center study results showed that 80 percent of the benefits of a tax free holiday are recognized by consumers.”
She added, “While people are out buying tax free items, they will also be spending money on taxable items, so the state actually gains.”
With 1.1 million grade school students and more than 500,000 students in Ohio colleges, one in seven Ohio families has students headed to school this fall, according to OCRM.
The County Commissioners Association of Ohio was the only opponent to the tax holiday legislation, according to Miller.
Clermont County Commissioner and 2nd Vice President of CCAO Ed Humphrey said the tax holiday will help families prepare for back-to-school.
“It will be an incentive to make purchases during the holiday,” Humphrey said.
Kroger will be promoting the tax holiday in their traditional and Kroger Marketplace stores, according to Kroger Public Affairs Manager for the Cincinnati and Dayton Division Patty Leesemann.
“We’ll be offering coupons for school supplies and apparel,” said Leesemann. “We will also be offering four times the fuel points on the purchase of gift cards, like Kohl’s. We’re really excited to offer this deal to our customers to have them save even more.”
Kroger carries a large selection of back-to-school supplies, including lunch boxes, backpacks and items for college kids, Leesemann said
“We have a wide assortment. We’re a one stop shop,” she added.
Yvonne Malott, of Williamsburg Township, said her great great-grandchildren will be attending school in the fall.
“[Our family] takes advantage of every chance to save some money, and this is an opportunity to get big savings,” Malott said.
“It costs a lot of money to send kids to school, and every little bit helps,” she added.
Miller said that while the tax holiday is currently only a one year event, she is confident that the results of the holiday will be so positive that legislators will make it a permanent event.
“We’ve heard from a lot of folks who are pleased about this holiday, and they hope to keep it,” Miller said. “If [shoppers] want this tax holiday to be permanent, they need to let their state representatives and state senators know.”
The tax holiday applies to all retailers, including online, that sell back-to-school goods to Ohio residents. For all eligible items, visit http://www.tax.ohio.gov/sales_and_use/salestaxholiday/holidayfaq.aspx.