A three-day tax free holiday will make it a bit easier for families to prepare for the beginning of school.

From 12:01 a.m., Friday, Aug. 1, through midnight Sunday, Aug. 3, Nodaway County retailers will participate in Missouri's State Tax Holiday. That means certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers and other items as defined by statute are exempt form sales tax during the time period.

The holiday applies to state and local taxes when a local jurisdiction chooses to participate in the holiday.

The City of Maryville and Nodaway County participate in the tax holiday to give families in the surrounding communities a break on back-to-school expenditures and encourage people to shop at local businesses.

Maryville City Manager Matt LeCerf said participating in the sales tax holiday is important not only for local businesses, but for residents preparing for the first day of school as well.

"With the rising costs of gasoline and so many things, we want to give a break to local citizens getting ready for school," LeCerf said. "We'd prefer local businesses be patronized rather than those in the surrounding region."

Denise Town, finance manager for the City of Maryville, said since the state doesn't track lost revenue from the tax holiday, it is hard to know exactly the amount of revenue forfeited by the City's participation.

"The State doesn't give us the information because they don't receive it from the merchants," Town said. "However a rough estimate of forfeited revenue money from participating in the tax holiday each year would be $2,500. This amount comes only from sales taxes, not retail sales."

According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, sales tax exemption is limited to:

• Clothing –– any article having a taxable value of $100 or less
• School supplies –– not to exceed $50 per purchase

• Computer software –– taxable value of $350 or less

• Personal computers –– not to exceed $3,500

• Computer peripheral devices –– not to exceed $3,500

In 2003, Lieutenant Gov. Peter Kinder won approval from the legislature that established the tax holiday in Missouri. This legislation gives Missouri families relief from sales tax for a three-day period to not only help families, but Missouri's economy by increasing retail sales during the holiday.

For more vendor or consumer information about Missouri's State tax holiday, visit http://dor.mo.gov/tax/business/sales/taxholiday.