Retailers and parents of school-age children (and anyone else in the market for clothes, school supplies and computers) will get their annual boost this weekend from the state's sales tax holiday. It's always pegged to the first weekend of August to help families get ready for the return to school.

South Carolina is one of 13 states to have a sales tax holiday tied to back-to-school shopping. This year's tax-free weekend runs from 12:01 a.m. Thursday through midnight Sunday. The tax holiday broadly applies to items that could be used to get students ready for school: clothing, computers, linens, for example.

While the annual tax holiday may have had dubious beginnings, it has been enthusiastically embraced by this state's residents. In that way, it has helped not only the state's residents but also businesses that count on this as a significant sales weekend.

As taxes continue to increase for some residents (the state sales tax will increase to 6 percent on June 1 next year), days like this help many South Carolinians who are struggling to get by. Though the savings might be just a few pennies on the dollar, even that can help a family trying to make ends meet.

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Yes, the stores will be a little more crowded this weekend, and the waits a little longer. But this much-anticipated day is worth it for many families, and it's also a rare opportunity for the state to give back a little after collecting taxes for the past year.