By Caleb Taylor Arkansas’s annual sales tax holiday allows shoppers in Arkansas the opportunity to purchase certain school supplies, school art supplies, school instructional materials, and clothing free of state and local sales or use tax one weekend per year. The holiday occurred on August 1-2 this year. Sixteen other states have similar back-to-school holidays. […]
Why does Arkansas have such a high sales tax rate?
By Caleb Taylor Arkansas is tied with Tennessee for having the highest average state and local sales tax rate at 9.47 percent, according to a midyear 2019 state and local sales tax report by the Tax Foundation. ACRE Scholar and Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl discussed the relationship between Arkansas’s high sales tax […]
The Sales Tax, Special Elections, and Voter Turnout
By Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl Arkansas has the third highest combined state and local tax rate in the nation. How did this happen? Research we are conducting at the Arkansas Center for Research in Economics suggests that part of the reason is that many counties and cities have elected to increase their own sales tax rates. […]