Photo by Karon.

It’s tax-free shopping time again — traditional back-to-school sales tax exemptions takes place in Virginia from August 5-7, while Maryland’s 6 percent sales tax will be waived between August 14-20. (Of course, you won’t be able to skirt paying tax on high-priced electronics, but tax-free time is always a good time to stock up on the basics, like clothing and shoes.) Normally, we wouldn’t so cavalierly suggest you take your spending money outside the borders of the District of Columbia, but the city repealed its sales tax holidays back in 2009.