Reinstates annual sales tax holiday for retail sales of computers, school computer supplies, school supplies, school art supplies, school instructional materials, and sport or recreation equipment.

A1839

ASSEMBLY, No. 1839

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman GREGORY E. MYHRE

District 9 (Ocean)

Assemblyman BRIAN E. RUMPF

District 9 (Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

���� Reinstates annual sales tax holiday for retail sales
of computers, school computer supplies, school supplies, school art supplies,
school instructional materials, and sport or recreation equipment.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

exempting certain retail sales of school supplies and sport or recreational
equipment from taxation under the �Sales and Use Tax Act,� and supplementing
P.L.1980, c.105 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.).

����
Be It Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New
Jersey:

���� 1. a. Receipts from retail
sales of the following products are exempt from the tax imposed under the
�Sales and Use Tax Act,� P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.) if the products
are sold to an individual purchaser for non-business use during the exemption
period:

���� (1) computers with a sales
price of less than $3,000 per item;

���� (2) school computer supplies
with a sales price of less than $1,000 per item;

���� (3) school supplies;

���� (4) school art supplies;

���� (5) school instructional
materials; and

���� (6) sport or recreational
equipment.

���� b.��� As used in this section:

���� �Annual exclusion period�
means the period of time between 12:01 a.m. on the ninth day preceding the
first Monday in September of each year and 11:59 p.m. on the first Monday in
September of each year.

���� �Computers� means electronic
devices that accept information in digital or similar form and manipulate it
for a result based on a sequence of instructions.

���� �Electronic� means relating to
technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

���� �School art supplies� means
items commonly used by a student in a course of study for artwork, and shall
include: clay and glazes; paints, including acrylic, tempera, and oil;
paintbrushes used for artwork; sketch and drawing pads; and watercolors.

���� �School computer supplies�
means items commonly used by a student in a course of study in which a computer
is used, and shall include: computer storage media, diskettes, and compact
disks; handheld electronic schedulers, except devices that are cellular phones;
personal digital assistants, except devices that are cellular phones; computer
printers; and printer supplies for computers, printer paper, and printer ink.

���� �School instructional
materials� means written materials commonly used by a student in a course of
study as a reference and to learn the subject being taught, and shall include:
reference books; reference maps and globes; textbooks; and workbooks.

���� �School supplies� means items
commonly used by a student in a course of study, and shall include: binders;
book bags; calculators; cellophane tape; blackboard chalk; compasses;
composition books; crayons; erasers; folders, including expandable folders, pocket
folders, plastic folders, and manila folders; glue, paste, and paste sticks;
highlighters; index cards; index card boxes; legal pads; lunch boxes; markers;
notebooks; paper, including loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph
paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and
construction paper; pencil boxes and other school supply boxes; pencil
sharpeners; pencils; pens; protractors; rulers; scissors; and writing tablets.

���� �Sport or recreational
equipment� means items designed for human use and worn in conjunction with an
athletic or recreational activity that are not suitable for general use, and
shall include, but not be limited to: ballet and tap shoes; cleated or spiked
athletic shoes; gloves, including baseball gloves, bowling gloves, boxing
gloves, hockey gloves, and golf gloves; goggles; hand and elbow guards; life
preservers and vests; mouth guards; roller and ice skates; shin guards;
shoulder pads; ski boots; waders; and wetsuits and fins.

���� 2.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the Director of the Division of Taxation
in the Department of the Treasury may adopt immediately upon filing with the Office
of Administrative Law, such regulations as the director deems necessary to
implement the provisions of section 1 of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) and to maintain compliance with
the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which regulations shall be
effective for a period not to exceed 180 days from the date of the filing.� The
regulations may therefore be amended, adopted, or readopted by the director as
the director deems necessary in accordance with P.L.1968, c.410.

���� 3. This act shall take effect
immediately and shall apply to retail sales made during annual exemption
periods occurring at least 30 days following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill reinstates the
annual �back-to-school� sales tax holiday for school supplies and sport or
recreational equipment, which had been repealed by the enactment of P.L.2024,
c.19.� The sales tax holiday would annually occur during the 10-period up to
and including Labor Day.

���� Under the bill, the following
items would be exempt from the sales and use tax when sold to an individual
purchaser for non-business use during a specified annual exclusion period: (1)
computers with a sales price of less than $3,000 per item; (2) school computer
supplies with a sales price of less than $1,000 per item; (3) school supplies;
(4) school art supplies; (5) school instructional materials; (6) and sport or
recreational equipment.� The period of time in which the purchase of these
items would be exempt from tax each year, referred to in the bill as the
�annual exclusion period,� is defined as the time between 12:01 a.m. on the
ninth day preceding the first Monday in September and 11:59 p.m. on the first
Monday in September of each year.

���� The bill would take effect
immediately upon enactment and apply to retail sales made during any annual
exclusion period occurring at least 30 days after the date of enactment.