Sales-Tax Holidays Coming

For most of you it probably seems too soon to start thinking about back-to-school shopping. But in just a few weeks several states will be offering their annual sales-tax holidays on purchases of clothing, school supplies or computers. Shopping on these days can be a good way to save a little money.

Mississippi has a sales-tax holiday the last two days of July. Fifteen states will exempt back-to-school purchases from sales tax on certain days in August. Georgia canceled its sales-tax holiday this year because of its budget deficit.

JULY

Mississippi: July 30-31. Clothing and footwear $100 or less exempt. More details

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AUGUST

Alabama: August 6-8. Clothing, computers, school supplies and books exempt (up to a certain dollar amount). See a complete list of tax-exempt items.

Connecticut: August 15-21. Clothing and footwear less than $300 exempt. More details

Florida: August 13-15. Clothing, books and school supplies exempt (up to certain dollar amounts). See a complete list of tax-exempt items.

Illinois: August 6-15. Clothing, footwear and school supplies less than $100 exempt. See a complete complete list of tax-exempt items.

Iowa: August 6-7. Clothing and footwear less than $100 exempt. See a complete list of tax-exempt items.

Louisiana: August 6-7. Most items less than $2,500 exempt. More details.

Maryland: August 8-14. Clothing and footwear $100 or less exempt. See a complete list of tax-exempt items.

Missouri: August 6-8. Clothing, computers and school supplies exempt (up to certain dollar amounts). More details

New Mexico: August 6-8. Clothing, computers and school supplies exempt (up to certain dollar amounts). More details

North Carolina: August 6-8. Clothing, computers, school supplies and sports equipment (up to certain dollar amounts). See a complete list of tax-exempt items.

Oklahoma: August 6-8. Clothing and footwear less than $100 exempt. See a list of tax-exempt items.

South Carolina: August 6-8. Clothing, computers and school supplies. See a list of tax-exempt items.

Tennessee: August 6-8. Clothing, computers and school supplies exempt (up to certain dollar amounts).See a list of tax-exempt items.

Texas: August 20-22. Clothing, footwear, backpacks and school supplies less than $100. See a list of tax-exempt items.

Virginia: August 6-8. Clothing, footwear and school supplies (up to certain dollar amounts).See a list of tax-exempt items.

Source: Federation of Tax Administrators

Follow me on Twitter. Log on to Twitter at 8 p.m. ET July 21, when I'll be answering questions about saving for college during a #dealchat hosted by Natalie P. McNeal, of TheFrugalista.com. Type #dealchat in the Twitter search field to follow the conversation.