The Barrington Hills Observer

Tax on eligible items will decrease to 1.25% from 6.25% from Aug. 5-14

Beginning Friday and lasting through Aug. 14, the state will reduce its sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 1.25 percent for certain clothing items costing less than $125 and school supplies.

The “tax holiday” was included in Gov. JB Pritzker’s “family relief plan,” one prong of several bills making up the Fiscal Year 2023 operating budget. The tax breaks passed with nearly unanimous support in the General Assembly and provided an estimated $1.8 billion in tax relief for Illinoisans.

“These past two-and-a-half years, for everyone, of managing through the pandemic has been hard,” Pritzker said at a news conference Thursday. “And the last nine months of inflation on top of that has strained the budgets of parents and teachers alike. Prices have risen for everything from gas to groceries to school supplies, and everyone is taking a hit. It’s at moments like these that we need thoughtful and creative solutions that provide financial relief for Illinois families.”

The state estimated the sales tax reduction would amount to $50 million in savings for taxpayers.

Included clothing items

The 10-day tax reduction includes clothing items costing less than $125 individually.

Clothing items, as defined by the law, include the standard items such as shorts, pants, skirts, shirts and underwear. The tax reduction will also apply to aprons, hats, caps and earmuffs, coats and jackets, belts and suspenders, rubber pants, lab coats, hosiery, scarves, bathing suits, school uniforms and neckties.

It also applies to footwear – shoes, shoelaces, slippers, insoles, boots, socks and sandals.

Included school supplies

Binders, book bags, calculators, cellophane tape, blackboard chalk, notebooks, erasers, folders, index cards, legal pads, lunch boxes, pencils and sharpeners, supply boxes, protractors, rulers, compasses, and scissors are all eligible for the reduced tax rate.

So are glue, highlighters, markers, crayons and colored pencils.

Read on for excluded items and “other tax relief” here.