Barrington Seeks To Expand Sales Tax Holiday

State Senator Don Barrington, the author of Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday, announced Monday he will introduce legislation expanding Oklahoma’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday to include school supplies.

Currently, clothing and footwear valued up to $100 are tax-free during the first weekend in August. Barrington’s bill would expand the list of tax-free items to include school supplies such as pencils, paper, crayons, notebooks and calculators.

“The first sales tax holiday last August was a resounding success for Oklahoma families and small businesses. One of the top requests we’ve had since then is to add school supplies to the list for tax-free items, and that’s what my bill will do,” stated Barrington, R-Lawton, who authored Senate Bill 861 that created Oklahoma’s sales tax holiday.

The success of the recent sales tax holiday was evident in August’s sales tax collections, which saw a $4.6 million increase from last year.

Barrington believes the addition of school supplies to the tax holiday exemption list will make the sales tax holiday even more successful in 2008.