From August 7th to the 9th Missouri is having the third annual School Sales Tax Holiday.  There are a few things you should be aware of if you intend to take advantage of this opportunity.

Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only.  So don’t rush out and purchase a new car because of the holiday. 

The interesting issue to be aware of is the participation.  It is easy to believe the entire state is free from taxes.  Sadly this is not the case.  The state’s portion of your local tax rate at the moment is 4.225%.  This amount is definitely not collected during the holiday.

Now the catch.  Local municipalities are able to opt-out.  A few words of thought could be stated here, but you certainly have the point.

Below is the list of cities that will not participate in the St. Louis, Missouri 2009 sales tax holiday. City sales tax in these locations will still be collected on the sale of qualifying holiday items.  See if your Saint Charles or St. Louis county municipality is opting out of the holiday.

• Alton
• Ash Grove
• Ashland
• Aurora
• Ballwin
• Battlefield
• Bellerive Acres
• Berkeley
• Beverly Hills
• Black Jack
• Blackwater
• Bland
• Bloomfield
• Bolivar
• Boonville
• Branson
• Brentwood
• Bridgeton
• Byrnes Mill
• Cabool
• California
• Camdenton
• Cameron
• Canton
• Cape Girardeau
• Carl Junction
• Carthage
• Cassville
• Centertown
• Chamois
• Charlack
• Chillicothe
• Claycomo
• Clayton
• Clinton
• Collins
• Columbia
• Cool Valley
• Crystal City
• Des Peres
• Desloge
• DeSoto
• Doniphan
• Edmundson
• Eldon
• Eldorado Springs
• Ellisville
• Ellsinore
• Elsberry
• Everton
• Fair Grove
• Farmington
• Fayette
• Fenton
• Ferguson
• Festus
• Flint Hill
• Freeman
• Fremont Hills
• Frontenac
• Fulton
• Garden City
• Gerald
• Glasgow
• Granby
• Grandin
• Grant City
• Green City
• Greendale
• Half Way
• Hartville
• Hawk Point
• Hayti
• Higginsville
• Hollister
• Holts Summit
• Houston
• Ironton
• Jane
• Jefferson City
• Joplin
• Kennett
• Kingdom City
• Kirkwood
• Koshkonong
• Ladue
• Laurie
• Leadington
• Liberal
• Licking
• Loma Linda
• Malden
• Manchester
• Maplewood
• Marble Hill
• Marceline
• Marlborough Village
• Marshfield
• Marthasville
• Merriam Woods Village
• Meta
• Moberly
• Montgomery
• Moscow Mills
• Mount Vernon
• Mountain Grove
• Mountain View
• Naylor
• Neosho
• New Haven
• New Madrid
• New Melle
• Nixa
• Noel
• Norborne
• North Kansas City
• Northwoods
• Oak Grove
• Oakland
• Osage Beach
• Overland
• Owensville
• Ozark
• Palmyra
• Paris
• Pattonsburg
• Peculiar
• Pevely
• Platte City
• Platte Woods
• Poplar Bluff
• Purdy
• Qulin
• Reeds Spring
• Richmond
• Richmond Heights
• Riverside
• Rock Hill
• Rockaway Beach
• Savannah
• Sedalia
• Seligman
• Shelbina
• Shrewsbury
• Skidmore
• Smithton
• Smithville
• Springfield
• St Ann
• St Elizabeth
• St Mary
• St Peters
• Ste Genevieve
• Stockton
• Sugar Creek
• Taos
• Thayer
• Town & Country
• Trenton
• Twin Oaks
• University City
• Urich
• Vandalia
• Velda
• Walnut Grove
• Warson Wood
• Washburn
• Waynesville
• Webster Grove
• West Plains
• Willard
• Willow Springs