COLUMBUS – A central Ohio state lawmaker wants another sales tax holiday for back-to-school shopping.
State Sen. Kevin Bacon (R-Minerva) introduced a bill Tuesday that would create the 2017 Ohio Sales Tax Holiday, providing a local and state sales tax exemption for customers purchasing clothing and school supplies during the first weekend in August.
Under the provision, savings would be applied to clothing priced at $75 or less, commonly used school supplies, such crayons, book bags and pencils, at $20 or less and school instructional materials like textbooks and workbooks priced at $20 or less.
Ohio was one of 17 states to host a sales tax holiday last year.
Since 2015, Ohio’s tax holiday has been praised by shoppers and retailers, Bacon said.
“The Ohio sales tax holiday has proved to be a win-win for parents, students and businesses alike. It’s important that we renew the tax break again this year to ensure Ohio families benefit from these savings opportunities,” he said.
Opponents of sales tax holidays, such as the independent Tax Foundation, say they do little to improve retail sales, since consumers reschedule purchases they would have made anyway, and do not always save shoppers money because retailers sometimes raise prices during the tax-free period.