I’m writing this only with knowledge of my state, Virginia, hoping others from other states will fill in if info is different where they live. Today begins Virginia’s Back to School Sales Tax Holiday, where certain school supplies and clothing are exempt from state sales tax. It is usually a big shopping weekend.

Other states do this as well. Intriguingly when it comes to school supplies, the item has to cost under $20 and there are no exemptions on computer hardware and software. “School Supply” is defined as an item commonly used by a student in the course of study. There is a published list of what’s exempt, and dealers are allowed to not charge sales tax on other items, but they then have to absorb that cost on pay the sales tax on those items.

So, what does your state do? Does it have a sales tax holiday? Does it include technology in its list of exempt purchases?