New York State Reinstates Sales Tax Exemption for Clothing and Footwear Shoppers at Century 21 in Lower Manhattan got a pleasant surprise on Sunday, when New York State exempted clothing and footwear purchases under $110 from the state sales tax. Many shoppers got a pleasant surprise on Sunday as New York State reinstated its sales-tax exemption on clothing and footwear items costing less than $110. "Oh, wow," Candy Conway, a mother from Pennsylvania who was shopping at Century 21 in Lower Manhattan with a friend, Brenda Alek, and the two women's teenage daughters, said when informed of the exemption. "I wish we'd known that yesterday, because we bought stuff yesterday, too," said Ms. Conway, explaining that the group was here for a "girls" weekend." But the exemption, she added, would "bring us back here." New York first exempted clothing and footwear under $110 from its 4 percent sales tax in 2000, but it has periodically suspended the exemption to balance the state's budget. Most recently, the tax was reinstated from Oct. 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011, bringing in $330 million in revenue, according to Morris Peters, a spokesman for the New York State Budget Division. On April 1, 2011, the exemption was restored for items costing less than $55, with the lower threshold meaning an extra $210 million for the state, Mr. Peters said. The state may be forgoing some revenue, but some shoppers said the exemption would be an incentive to buy more - and it certainly made the math easier. Dalila Billon, 29, a tourist from France, was delighted when a sales clerk at Century 21 told her about the exemption. Because American retailers do not include sales tax in the price, as they do in France, "it's difficult to compare" prices here with the ones at home, she said. Two sisters from Cape Cod, with matching gray bobs and black coats, were also pleased. Before she read about the exemption going back into effect, "I said to my sister, "I don't really want to buy any clothing here," because you have to pay sales tax, and you don't in Massachusetts," one of the sisters, Diane Hanna, said. I think it's good for New York State, because it makes it more competitive. New Jersey exempts most clothing and footwear from its 7 percent sales tax, and some New York politicians, like the State Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, hope that their state's exemption will stop people from going over the border to shop for clothes. In fact, with the exemption in effect, shoppers from the suburbs and perhaps those from nearby parts of Connecticut, which has a 6.35 percent sales tax, might be enticed by a simple calculation: Shop for clothes (under $110) in New York City, and pay no sales tax. And city residents might be enticed to stay. New York City already exempts items under $110 from its 4.5 percent sales tax and will continue to do so. Most jurisdictions, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which charge a 4.25 sales tax, do not exempt such items. At Fresh Meadows Shopping Center in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and at Green Acres Mall, just over the Queens border in Nassau County, few shoppers were aware that the exemption had been reinstated. "Now that I know this, it would make a difference," said Ingrid Peter, a nanny from the Bronx who had crossed the border into Nassau to visit the Green Acres Mall with her sister and brother-in law. Every little bit helps. Then again, decisions about where to shop are driven by many factors, not all of which are rational. Nick Arapias, 74, of Bayside, Queens, who was pacing the aisles in Kohl's at Green Acres while his wife shopped, said, "Listen, you know how women are. If my wife wants to go to Macy's in Manhasset, you think I can say no? Of course I can't. Angela Macropoulos contributed reporting.