N.J. back-to-school tax holiday repealed after 2 years

PARAMUS, N.J. -- New Jersey lawmakers repealed the state's annual back-to-school sales holiday just two years after it was enacted.

The 10-day tax holiday was enacted in 2022 to help residents save money on school supplies , computers, and sport or recreational equipment.

It was popular, but expensive. Officials said the state will save about $35 million per year by ending the tax holiday.

Democratic lawmakers in Trenton sponsored a bill to repeal the tax holiday earlier this year. It passed and Gov. Phil Murphy signed it into law over the summer.

According to Nerdwallet , Connecticut and 18 other states have some form of a sales tax holiday this year.

"Why would they do that?"

Joslyn, whose daughter is about to start 1st grade, was out back-to-school shopping at Staples in Park Ridge on Friday.

She's trying to get a head start.

"Because I usually do like the last week of August, and then everything's priced up, too. So I was like, let me buy it now," she told CBS News New York.

Ten miles south at Target in Paramus, Kat Martinez was helping her niece buy dorm room essentials for her sophomore year at Rutgers.

"Every penny counts. That's for sure," Martinez said. "Why would they do that? That's helpful for us."

She's trying to stick to a budget and the tax holiday helped with that last year.

"And we were able to purchase her Mac, her headphones, and her iPad with the tax break," Martinez said. "Big savings."

New York does not have a sales tax holiday, and now neither does New Jersey.