BATON ROUGE — Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, elected State Legislators, and Louisiana Department of Revenue Secretary Cynthia Bridges invite taxpayers to take a State Sales Tax Holiday on Dec. 16-18.

In the process of stretching shopping dollars, customers will also be supporting Louisiana retailers affected by the hurricanes.

A state sales tax holiday was approved by the Louisiana State Legislature on the first $2,500 of the purchase price of most tangible personal property.

Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, dedicated Louisiana business owners reopened under some of the most challenging and difficult circumstances.

The &#8220Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday” was developed to encourage retail shopping and reinforce economic recovery by offering savings to consumers patronizing these dedicated retailers.

&#8220Throughout each regional area, every resident is working hard to restore the state’s cherished quality of life as quickly as possible and the State Sales Tax Holiday provides financial relief to these hard working Louisiana citizens as well as our guests visiting the state on these three days. In addition, it supports our local businesses by encouraging consumers to shop throughout the state.” Said LDR Secretary Cynthia Bridges.

Act 9 of the 1990 Regular Legislative Session provides a $25 credit for each retail register reprogrammed to accommodate the 3-day sales tax holiday.

Retailers are allowed to claim this credit only for reprogramming costs invoiced to them by external providers of this service. Point-of-Sale cash registers controlled from host computers are also eligible for the credit.

The act also authorizes the exemption for Louisiana businesses located in FEMA Individual Assistance Areas that replace property lost as a result of the storms. Eligible businesses must apply to LDR and receive &#8220Sales Tax Holiday Exemption Certificates” in order to be able to make tax free purchases of replacement property.

The application as well as information for both retailers and consumers is available on the LDR website at www.revenue.louisiana.gov.

The Louisiana State Tax Holiday does not apply to parish, local or other municipal sales taxes that may be levied within their respective jurisdictions.

For details on local sales tax policies or rates please refer to your municipal revenue and taxation office.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue’s mission is to administer the applicable tax laws of the state of Louisiana as well as regulations concerning alcohol, tobacco and charitable gaming.