Ohio Sales Tax Holiday starts today: 3 things to know

As another summer break winds down, school districts in the Miami Valley are ready for the return of thousands of students next week back to their classrooms — and the Ohio Sales Tax Holiday will help teachers and parents get a deal on back-to-school supplies.

Miamisburg High School is hosting a freshmen orientation today as the district is set to start classes on Wednesday, said the school’s principal Craig Morris.

“We’re set to go,” Morris said. “We’re getting after it. Our students have been in. We’ve been selling parking passes, we’ve been passing out schedules….the high school’s been a very busy place this time of year.”

» RELATED: Before Ohio’s sales tax holiday, retailers push back-to-school sales

Ohio’s sales tax holiday, which begins today and ends at midnight Sunday, offers sales tax exemptions on certain items for back-to school shoppers. The deal includes clothing priced up to $75 and school supplies and instruction materials priced under $20.

The Ohio Sales Tax Holiday deals are expected to save shoppers more than $3 million in sales taxes. That allows back-to-school shoppers, who are expected to spend a record $84 billion in the U.S. this year, to get more for their money.

» RELATED: Meijer adds home delivery services in Dayton, Cincinnati

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average $687.72 each, for a total of $29.5 billion, an 8 percent increase from last year’s $27.3 billion nationwide. Total spending is the second-highest in the history of the survey following a peak of $30.3 billion in 2012.

Here’s what to know before heading out this weekend:

1. What items of clothing qualify for the sales tax holiday?

Clothing is any apparel suitable for general use. Clothing includes: shirts; blouses; sweaters; pants; shorts; skirts; dresses; uniforms (athletic and nonathletic); shoes and shoe laces; insoles for shoes; sneakers; sandals; boots; overshoes; slippers; steel-toed shoes; underwear; socks and stockings; hosiery; pantyhose; footlets; coats and jackets; rainwear; gloves and mittens for general use; hats and caps; ear muffs; belts and suspenders; neckties; scarves; aprons (household and shop); lab coats; athletic supporters; bathing suits and caps; beach capes and coats; costumes; baby receiving blankets; diapers, children and adult, including disposable diapers; rubber pants; garters and garter belts; girdles; formal wear; and wedding apparel.

2. What kind of school supplies qualify?

School supplies include only the following items: binders; book bags; calculators; cellophane tape; blackboard chalk; compasses; composition books; crayons; erasers; folders (expandable, pocket, plastic, and manila); glue, paste, and paste sticks; highlighters; index cards; index card boxes; legal pads; lunch boxes; markers; notebooks; paper; loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper; pencil boxes and other school supply boxes; pencil sharpeners; pencils; pens; protractors; rulers; scissors; and writing tablets.

3. What items quality as “school instructional material?”

“School instructional material” includes only the following items: reference books, reference maps and globes, textbooks, and workbooks.

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