Right now I am sure parents are trying to figure out how they are going to handle back-to-school shopping. Illinois is giving parents some relief lie when shopping for their families.

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Back in April, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 157 which lowers the tax rate on clothes and school supplies by 5 % for 10 days in August. According to NBC Chicago,  it was part of a $46.5 billion budget. So get ready to save a little. It may not be a lot, but every penny counts. The ten-day sales tax weekend will run from August 5 to August 14, and over those ten days, the rate will drop from 6.25% to 1.25%.

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.

Some of the items that qualify during the sales tax holiday include:

Clothing (items must be less than $125):

  • 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

Footwear (items must be less than $125):

  • shoes, sneakers, and shoelaces
  • sandals
  • slippers
  • socks and stockings
  • footlets
  • boots and overshoes
  • insoles for shoes
  • steel-toed shoes

School Supplies (items must be less than $125):

  • 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

There are times that do not qualify for the sales tax holiday those items include some clothing accessories such as briefcases, cosmetics, handbags, and wallets. Some sports or recreational equipment like gloves (for baseball, golf, blowing, etc.), goggles, mouth guards, and wetsuits. Footwear like ballet, tap, cleated, or spoiled athletic shoes. Other times that don't qualify include:

For a full list of what times qualify and what times don't click here.

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