Mississippi Sales Tax Holiday

Tax Free Weekend has arrived.

Retailers and shoppers across Mississippi and the Coast are already geared up for a big weekend of shopping with the start of Mississippi’s Sales Tax Holiday.

Let the savings begin. It’s a holiday of sorts for shoppers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the rest of our state. The Mississippi Sales Tax Holiday kicked off this morning, allowing people to purchase certain items without the state’s seven percent sales tax applied.

Retailers at Gulfport Premium Outlets are prepared for a busy two days. VF Outlet Store Manager Terri Flint said, “We have double staff than what we normally have on a weekend. We’ve got running everything to the floor, filling in when we can.”

Flint says a majority of the clothing items in her store are included in this weekend’s holiday. “So, basically it’s any clothing and probably about 90 percent of the stuff in our store is tax free.”

School supplies valued less than $100 are also exempt from the tax for the first time this year. Tiffanie Woolbright and her family made the trip from Alabama to buy new items for the start of school. “Especially with the different supplies we’re having to purchase now, it helps.”

Woolbright says the holiday allows her to add more variety to her shopping list. “I think the holiday helps us get more. Had we not had that sales tax holiday we might have had to cut it a little bit short, but it helps her get more of a variety and more wardrobe so I think it helps a lot.”

Stores are committed to making the shopping experience a positive one this busy weekend. “It is our job to make sure it’s an enjoyable experience for them. The amount of people that are going to come in this door is unbelievable.”

The sales tax holiday runs through midnight Saturday.