By Joey McWilliams
BRYAN COUNTY – For the 11th year, the Oklahoma Tax Commission has declared a ‘sales tax holiday’ for certain clothing and footwear items and more throughout the state.
It is set to run this year from Friday, Aug. 4, through Sunday, Aug. 6. Qualified items are exempt from state, city, county and local municipality sales taxes.
“Oklahomans will save over seven million dollars by taking advantage of the annual sales tax holiday,” OTC Director of Communications Paula Ross said. “As in previous years, most clothing and footwear items priced at less than $100 will be exempt from state and local taxes.
“Additionally many stores may offer additional sales and deals to celebrate the weekend. This can result in big savings for citizens throughout the state.”
Stores throughout Bryan County are once again looking forward to seeing local customers take advantage of the opportunity to make tax-free purchases.
Pamela Moore, a co-manager Walmart in Durant, said this is a big deal for people with school-aged kids.
“It takes all the taxes off their clothing, their school supplies, backpacks, some of the back-to-college items, also,” Moore said.
“We’re expecting to be extremely busy Friday through Sunday. We’ve made plans to have extra associates to come in and help manage all of that with extra coverage in the front to get customers in and out. We’ll have people to help with the back-to-school supplies, if they are not on the side counters, then we will have it in the back and they can get somebody back there to get them.
“It’s a big weekend and we’ve been gearing up for it all week and look forward to seeing all the people come out. And we know it really does help people to get the school year started.”
Kim Stepp, owner of Stepp West in Calera, said all of the local businesses benefit greatly from a tax-free weekend.
“Anything that is school-related, not just their school supplies, but their clothing and shoes is all included and it affects the economy a lot,” Stepp said.
“I think it’s an incentive to get people out and shopping locally because they know that is a savings for them. And in addition to the tax-free savings, we also offer in-store savings to entice them to come in and shop with us.”
Stepp said there will be a $10 clothing rack, a 50-percent-off rack, a 75-percent-off rack, as well as discounts on Minnetonka boots and sandals for women and kids and Twisted X shoes at Stepp West this weekend.
“We’ve got a lot of really good bargains going on in addition to the tax-free weekend,” Stepp said.
Oklahoma is one of nine states offering a tax-free weekend this weekend, along with Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia. Texas will have its tax-free weekend Aug. 11-13.