Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday in Mississippi set for this weekend

By: Jeremy Pittari, Magnolia Tribune

Mississippi’s Second Amendment Sales Tax holiday will be held this weekend, from Friday, August 30 to Sunday September 1.

All purchases statewide of firearms, ammunition and selected hunting supplies will be tax free during the holiday. Applicable items include ammunition such as reloading supplies, shotgun shells, cartridges, pistols, rifles, shotguns, bows, crossbows, holsters, parts for firearms, holsters, and hearing protection, to name a few. Targets, sights and suppressors are also eligible.

“This weekend, Mississippi will once again be honoring the right enshrined in our cherished Second Amendment,” Governor Tate Reeves (R) told Magnolia Tribune on Tuesday. “This sales tax holiday is a great opportunity to support local businesses, exercise our right to keep and bear arms, and remain steadfast in protecting this critical freedom all across our great state.”

There is no limit on the purchase price to save on sales tax during this holiday.

Know before you shop: rules of the sales tax holiday

Qualifying items that need to be delivered to the purchaser, whether purchased online, via phone or in-person at a brick-and-mortar business, will remain tax exempt so long as the item is purchased during the holiday window and delivery of the item is not delayed due to an action on the part of the purchaser.

If the purchase involves a bundle of items, the items that still qualify for sales tax during the holiday will have to be separated from the purchase and taxed at the appropriate rate. Layaway purchases made during the holiday do not qualify for tax exemption.

Purchases returned after the holiday can still apply for tax exemption so long as the item is traded for a similar item, even if the new item is a different style or color, such as a holster. However, purchases traded in for a new/different item after the tax holiday will be subject to the appropriate taxes.

“For example, a customer purchases a $300 firearm during the MSAW holiday. After the holiday, the customer returns the firearm, receives credit for the firearm, and then buys a $300 archery bow. Sales tax is due on the $300 price of the bow since the bow was not purchased during the holiday,” the Mississippi Department of Revenue’s sales tax holiday guideline document reads.

Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) said this is a great weekend to exercise your Second Amendment rights.

Hosemann said the holiday helps Mississippians “get prepared for the upcoming hunting season (doves beware), and shop in a Mississippi small business for a new firearm.”

“What a way to celebrate our freedoms and boost the economy!” Hosemann added speaking with Magnolia Tribune.

Items that do not qualify for tax exemption include BB guns, air rifles, paintball guns and toy guns. Hunting supplies that do not qualify include ATVs, blinds, cameras, chairs, boots, knives, gun cabinets, trucks and tree stands.

For a full listing of eligible and ineligible items, click here.