Saving on back-to-school shopping: 'Sales tax holiday' begins in New Jersey

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you shop in New Jersey, you can save a little money, starting this weekend. A "sales tax holiday" is in effect in the Garden State.

The hope is that families can save some serious cash on back-to-school shopping.

Parents and students were crossing items off their shopping list on Saturday in Cherry Hill.

"School supplies for my daughter she'll be a kindergartener," said Yuli Wang.

It's that time of the year, shelves are stocked with school supplies, and for 10 days in New Jersey, the 6.625% sales tax is non-existent for certain items.

Parents are definitely in favor of the savings.

"It's great to ease the pain of the school supplies demand everything they need going back to school," explained Rose Bevilacqua of Haddonfield.

All of the supplies come at a cost. According to the national retail federation, total back-to-school spending is expected to match 2021's record high of $37 billion, or more than $800 for households with kids k-12.

The savings are applied both online and in stores. School supplies included in the tax holiday range from pens and pencils, to notebooks, sports equipment, art supplies, and even computers that cost less than $3,000.

With the cost of inflation, preparing to head back to school starts even earlier this year.

"You got to like split the stuff within weeks... next week I'll get shoes, following week more tops so it is hard," said Zamiah Bonilla of Camden.

That might explain why according to experts, more than half of shoppers started looking for back-to-school supplies in July.

The New Jersey tax holiday runs through Sept. 5.