Senator Larry Obhof (R–Medina) announced the Ohio Senate approved Senate Bill 243, which seeks to establish a recurring three-day weekend each August in which certain retail items are exempt from sales and use taxation. The initiative is commonly known as a “sales tax holiday,” and is intended to give citizens tax relief during the back-to-school shopping season.
“A sales tax holiday will benefit Ohio families, who are already strained during the back-to-school shopping season,” said Obhof. “This will help parents afford school supplies and other necessities.”
According to the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati, 18 states had a sales tax holiday in 2012. Most of these states covered items similar to those seen in Ohio’s proposal such as clothing and school supplies.
Senate Bill 243’s sales tax holiday applies to the following items:
- School supplies such as pencils, pens, binders, and lunch boxes
- Clothing Items such as denim, sweaters, and jackets priced $100 or less
- Computers and devices such as electronic book readers, laptops, and desktop computers priced $1000 or less
The Senate also approved House Concurrent Resolution 21, which urges the president and Congress to take immediate action to reduce the processing time for military veterans’ disability claims.
During 2013, the average decision time for a claim increased from two months to over 260 days. As of April 13, 2013, there were over 852,000 claims awaiting decision and 69 percent of those cases had been waiting from more than 125 days.
Senate Bill 243 will now proceed to the Ohio House of Representatives for further consideration. House Concurrent Resolution 21 will be filed with the Ohio Secretary of State and delivered to the president, his administration, and the Members of Congress.