diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 710b29e..1371d63 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 test=pytest
 
 [flake8]
-exclude=build, .eggs
+exclude=build, .eggs, .tox/*
 
 [coverage:run]
 source=.
 data_file=.coverage
-omit=build, .eggs/*
+omit=build, .eggs/*, .tox/*
 
 [coverage:report]
-omit=build, .eggs/*
\ No newline at end of file
+omit=build, .eggs/*, .tox/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ef21664..a786871 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ def find_version(*paths):
       py_modules=['tap-redshift'],
       packages=find_packages(),
       install_requires=[
-        'attrs==17.2.0',
+        'attrs==18.2.0',
         'pendulum==1.2.0',
         'singer-python==5.0.4',
         'backoff==1.3.2',
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def find_version(*paths):
       tests_require=[
         'pytest-mock>=1.6.3',
         'mock>=2.0.0',
-        'coverage>=4.4.2',
+        'coverage==4.5.1',
         'doublex>=1.8.4,<2.0a',
         'flake8>=2.6.0,<3.4.1a',
         'pyhamcrest>=1.9.0,<2.0a',
diff --git a/tap_redshift/__init__.py b/tap_redshift/__init__.py
index 473da72..85305f5 100644
--- a/tap_redshift/__init__.py
+++ b/tap_redshift/__init__.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 from tap_redshift import resolve
 
-__version__ = '1.0.0b8'
+__version__ = '1.0.0b9'
 
 LOGGER = singer.get_logger()
 
@@ -277,6 +277,8 @@ def get_stream_version(tap_stream_id, state):
 def row_to_record(catalog_entry, version, row, columns, time_extracted):
     row_to_persist = ()
     for idx, elem in enumerate(row):
+        if isinstance(elem, datetime.date):
+            elem = elem.isoformat('T') + 'Z'
         row_to_persist += (elem,)
     return singer.RecordMessage(
         stream=catalog_entry.stream,
@@ -307,8 +309,8 @@ def sync_table(connection, catalog_entry, state):
         params = {}
 
         if start_date is not None:
-            formatted_start_date = str(datetime.datetime.strptime(
-                start_date, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'))
+            formatted_start_date = datetime.datetime.strptime(
+                start_date, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ').astimezone()
 
         replication_key = metadata.to_map(catalog_entry.metadata).get(
             (), {}).get('replication-key')
@@ -341,7 +343,7 @@ def sync_table(connection, catalog_entry, state):
                 state,
                 tap_stream_id,
                 'replication_key_value'
-            ) or formatted_start_date
+            ) or formatted_start_date.isoformat()
 
         if replication_key_value is not None:
             entry_schema = catalog_entry.schema
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index d92ce08..12d53ef 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@
 envlist=py36
 [testenv]
 deps=
-    coverage
+    coverage<=4.5.1
     flake8
 commands=
-    flake8 . \
-    --exclude=./.tox/*,./.eggs/*,./build/*
+    flake8 .
     coverage run setup.py test {posargs}
-    coverage report --omit=./.tox/* --fail-under=70
\ No newline at end of file
+    coverage report --fail-under=70
\ No newline at end of file