Annual back-to-school tax-free holiday this weekend

ALBANY — Georgia residents know the start of the school year is right around the corner when they start preparing for the annual back-to-school tax-free shopping holiday, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday. The tax-free weekend allows families to save on basic school supplies, clothes, footwear and technology to prepare their children for the upcoming year.

The average family is expected to spend $673.57 on apparel and accessories, electronics, shoes and school supplies, up from last year’s $630.36. Nationally, sales for this year’s back-to-school shopping weekend are expected to reach $75 billion, up from $68 billion last year.

“The back-to-school sales tax holiday is something that all Georgia families, students and even business professionals look forward to, to save money on the clothes, supplies and items they need for school or work,” said Georgia Retailers Association President/CEO Randy Miller. “With more than 120,000 retailers in Georgia prepared for this popular weekend, we’re excited about the increased sales for businesses and the important savings for consumers.”

The holiday means big savings for shoppers and big business for retailers. The holiday has become the second-largest shopping weekend after Black Friday. As part of the holiday, shoppers don’t have to pay sales tax on back-to-school items, including clothing and shoes priced at $100 or less, computers and accessories of $1,000 or less, and school supplies less than $20 per item.

“The tax-free holiday is very important to us,” Belk Store Manager Cheryl Bolden said Monday. “We had large crowds last year and are expecting larger crowds this year. We will be holding a ‘red dot’ clearance sale of items Friday through Sunday. Those with Belk cards can take an additional 20 percent off, and those without a card can take an additional 10 percent on items that are already marked down 50 percent.”

According to GRA’s responders to a recent National Retail Federation survey, families with children in grades K-12 plan to spend an average of more than $40 more per family, up from last year’s $630.36 for a total of $27.3 billion That’s an increase of 9.6 percent from last year’s $24.9 billion and compares with a total growth of 54.8 percent over the past 10 years.

The numbers follow a pattern in which spending often increases one year as families stock up on supplies only to drop off the next as they get a second year out of longer-lasting items like backpacks or computers. Spending then increases in the third year once children outgrow clothing or items need to be replaced.

According to the survey, K-12 consumers plan to spend $9.54 billion on clothing (purchased by 95 percent), $8.27 billion on electronics such as computers or calculators (57 percent), $5.12 billion on shoes (94 percent) and $4.37 billion on school supplies such as notebooks, folders, pencils, backpacks and lunchboxes (96 percent). Parents say they will spend an average $235.39 on clothing, $204.06 on electronics, $126.35 on shoes and $107.76 on school supplies.

While discount stores continue to be the choice of the largest share of shoppers at 61 percent, the number is at its lowest level in the survey’s history. But 46 percent of parents said they would shop online, a dramatic jump from last year’s 36 percent. The vast majority of online shoppers plan to take advantage of free shipping (89 percent of those surveyed) and conveniences like buying online and picking up in store (54 percent).

Dougherty County’s schools open to students on Aug. 2, while Lee County schools open Aug. 5.