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Tennessee Adds Sales Tax Holidays for Food, Gun Safety

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In addition to the traditional sales tax holiday on clothing, school supplies and computers, the Tennessee General Assembly has approved sales tax holidays for food and for gun safety.

The traditional sales tax holiday on clothing, school supplies and computers begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 30, 2021, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, August 1, 2021.

During the holiday, clothing, school supplies and computers may be purchased tax-free, with some restrictions. Items sold online are also eligible. Items must be purchased for personal use, not for business or trade.

Clothing items that are exempt include general apparel that costs $100 or less per item, such as shirts, pants, socks, shoes, dresses, etc. Not exempt are apparel items priced at more than $100. Items sold together, such as shoes, cannot be split up to stay beneath the $100 maximum. Items such as jewelry, handbags, or sports and recreational equipment are also not exempt.

School and art supplies with a purchase price of $100 or less per item, such as binders, backpacks, crayons, paper, pens, pencils, and rulers, and art supplies such as glazes, clay, paints, drawing pads, and artist paint brushes are exempt. Not exempt are school and art supplies individually priced at more than $100. Items that are normally sold together cannot be split up to stay beneath the $100 maximum.

Computers for personal use with a purchase price of $1,500 or less are exempt, including laptop computers and tablet computers. Not exempt are storage media such as flash drives and compact discs, individually purchased software, printer supplies and household appliances.

The sales tax holiday for food, food ingredients and prepared food begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 30, 2021 and ends Thursday, August 5, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. This includes qualified sales of prepared food by restaurants, food trucks, caterers and grocery stores. Sales of alcoholic beverages are not included in items exempt during this period.

Gun safes and safety devices sold at retail are exempt from sales and use tax during a holiday period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2021 and ending at 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2022.

A “gun safe” is defined as a locking container or other enclosure equipped with a padlock, key lock, combination lock or other locking device that is designed and intended for the secure storage of one or more firearms. A “gun safety device” is defined as any integral device to be equipped or installed on a firearm that permits the user to program the firearm to operate only for specified persons designated by the user through computerized locking devices or other means integral to and permanently part of the firearm.