New York State Sales Tax Break To Expand On Sunday: How The Change Impacts You

The New York state sales tax break is slated to expand on Sunday. Here's how the change impacts you.

Currently there is no sales tax on any clothing purchase that totals less than $55, but as of Sunday, that exemption will expand to clothing purchases up to $110.

In other words, New Yorkers will not have to pay the current 4 percent levy on clothing purchases between $55 and $110 starting Sunday in a change that will only reduce state sales tax.

But most counties add a 4 percent additional tax to all purchases, making the actual tax rate on goods in most New York locales 8 percent, so this tax break will just lower sales taxes, not eliminate them entirely.

The change raises the amount of money New Yorkers will save on clothing purchases, as since March 2011 the maximum purchase price to get the tax break was $55. Between October 2010 and March 2011, the state levied the full 4 percent sales tax on all items, including clothing, raising $330 million during that time, according to The Ithaca Journal.

In the 1990s, New York led the sales tax relief movement by instituting a number of sales tax holidays, or weeks during which people were able to purchase goods without paying a duty to the state. The weeks were popular, but were phased out over time and replaced with the current year-round regime.

The change is expected to help New Yorkers make ends meet in this time of economic hardship.

Certainly, New Yorkers are among the highest taxed in the nation and any type of relief we can provide I think we should, New York State Assemblyman Bill Reilich told the Journal.