South Carolinians will be saving lots of dollars Friday through Sunday as the annual tax-free weekend is in effect.
The multi-day event is geared to help families pay for many of the back-to-school supplies including clothing, footwear, school supplies, computers and supplies, and dorm room items such as bed and bath items.
We ask our residents to primarily shop at home this weekend. There are a multitude of stores all over the county which carry the items exempt from taxes – the “big box” stores and the smaller shops along our main streets.
Each dollar spent here at home is an investment in our economy. Those dollars provide jobs and Barnwell County needs every job it can get. The state may not get those taxes these three days but will benefit from sales which will keep our local businesses going – and taxable – in the long run. The state will also get its share of income taxes from those individuals employed by these stores.
Additionally, think of the fuel you will be saving by shopping locally. That’s more money in your pocket to spend on the items your family needs.
The event starts at 12 a.m. on Friday and runs until midnight on Sunday. Check out our local stores in advance. Look through the ads in this week’s edition and note the times these stores are open. A full listing of the tax free items is available on the Web at www.sctax.org.
This weekend, shop early. Shop late. But, mainly, shop at home.

The items to be exempt from taxes this weekend:
(1) clothing; (2) clothing accessories including, but not limited to, hats, scarves, hosiery, and handbags; (3) footwear; (4) school supplies including, but not limited to, pens, pencils, paper, binders, notebooks, books, bookbags, lunchboxes, and calculators; (5) computers, printers and printer supplies, and computer software; (6) bath wash clothes, blankets, bed spreads, bed linens, sheet sets, comforter sets, bath towels, shower curtains, bath rugs and mats, pillows, and pillow cases.