From August 5 until August 14, shoppers can save 5% on the sales tax for clothes and school supplies.

From August 5 until August 14, shoppers can save 5% on the sales tax for clothes and school supplies.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois kicks off a 10-day sales tax holiday this week to help families and students preparing to go back to school.

From August 5 until August 14, shoppers can save 5% on the sales tax for clothes and school supplies. This means, instead of paying the state sales tax of 6.25% tax, shoppers will pay 1.25% on back to school shopping.

So, if you spend about $200 dollars on supplies, you'd get $10 off.

Clothes or shoes must be less than $125 per item to qualify for the tax discount. Qualifying school supplies do not have the same price constraints.

The sales tax holiday is part of the $46.5 billion dollar state budget that went in to effect July 1.

David Harris, director of the Illinois Dept. of Revenue, said the state estimates the tax breaks will save shoppers anywhere from $50 to 78 million this year.

"It's a nice chunk of change," Harris said. "It's an initiative and part of the Illinois Family Relief Plan that the governor started and legislators passed."

Back to school tax holidays have been around before, but they are not every year, so take advantage.

You can also save by taking inventory of what's already in your closets. Spread out purchases after asking teachers what children may not need right away. You can also go in with neighbors or friends and buy items in bulk.

This tax holiday comes just as many families are feeling the pinch of inflation. According to the most recent estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of the following school related items increased from June 2021 to June 2022:

4. Toy, games and playground equipment: by 4.8%

5. Educational books and supplies: by 3.7%

6. Tuition, school fees and childcare: by 2.7%

Below is a list of QUALIFYING items for the Illinois sales tax holiday:

Clothing Retail (selling price must be less than $125 per item, including):

-hats, caps, and ear muffs

-rubber pants (covers for cloth diapers)

Footwear Retail (selling price must be less than $125 per item, including):

-shoes, sneakers, and shoe laces

School supplies (Must be used by students in the course of study, including:)

-expandable pocket, plastic, and manila folders

-glue, paste, and paste sticks

-index cards and index card boxes

-notebooks and notebook paper, including loose leaf notebook, copy, graph, tracing, manila, colored and construction paper, and poster board

-pens, ink, and ink refills for pens

-pencil boxes and other school supply boxes

Below is a list NON-QUALIFYING items from the Illinois.gov website:

Clothing accessories (Any clothing item with a retail selling price of $125 or more)

-hair notions including, but not limited to barrettes, hair bows, and hair nets

-gloves, including but not limited to baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey, and golf gloves

-clean room apparel and equipment

-welder's gloves and masks

-ballet, tap, cleated or spiked athletic shoes

-acrylic, tempera, and oil paints

-flashdrives and other computer data storage devices

-data storage media such as diskettes, and compact disks

-boxes and cases for disk storage

-printer cartridges, toner, and ink

-cameras and related supplies such as film and memory cards, video cameras, tapes and videotapes

-Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) and handheld electronic schedulers

Accused drunk driver charged after 4 killed in golf cart crash: police

More human remains discovered in Lake Mead's receding waters

Chicago Park District fall camp 2022 online registration opens Monday