Metro East Sun

Rep. Amy Elik (R-Saint Louis) gave some information on Facebook about the sales tax holiday.

In an Aug. 9 Facebook post, Elik reminded constituents of the sales tax holiday for school supplies.

“Here's what you should know about Illinois' sales tax holiday on school supplies,” said Elik.

The state sales tax holiday is a ten-day period during which consumers can purchase certain clothing and school-related items and pay sales tax at a reduced rate. The reduced state portion of sales tax due during this period is 1.25 percent (1.25%), the state rate of 6.25 percent (6.25%) minus 5.00 percent (5.00%). Items include qualifying clothing and footwear with a retail selling price of less than $125 per item and certain school supplies used by students in the course of study. School supplies are not subject to the $125 threshold.

Clothing Retail selling price must be less than $125 per item, including • household and shop aprons • athletic supporters • bathing suits and caps • belts and suspenders • coats and jackets • gloves and mittens • hats, caps, and ear muffs • lab coats • neckties • rainwear • rubber pants (covers for cloth diapers) • scarves • underwear • school uniforms • shorts and pants • skirts and dresses • hosiery and pantyhose • shirts and blouses Sales Tax Holiday - Qualifying Items Footwear Retail selling price must be less than $125 per item, including • shoes, sneakers, and shoe laces • sandals • slippers • socks and stockings • footlets • boots and overshoes • insoles for shoes • steel-toed shoes School supplies Must be used by students in the course of study, including • binders • book bags • calculators • cellophane tape • blackboard chalk • composition books • crayons • colored pencils • erasers • expandable pocket, plastic, and manila folders • glue, paste, and paste sticks • highlighters • index cards and index card boxes • legal pads • lunch boxes • markers • notebooks and notebook paper, including loose leaf notebook, copy, graph, tracing, manila, colored and construction paper, and poster board • pencils and pencil leads • pens, ink, and ink refills for pens • pencil boxes and other school supply boxes • pencil sharpeners • protractors, rulers, and compasses • scissors • writing tablets.