As the school year approaches in South Carolina, so does the highly anticipated Sales Tax Holiday that precedes it. People have varying opinions on the weekend’s true value; we think it has an overall positive effect for families and businesses.
The statewide holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and ends at midnight Sunday. It allows shoppers to be relieved for a few days of the 6-percent state sales and use tax as well as any applicable local sales and use tax.
The weekend is geared toward back-to-school shoppers and exempts items including clothing, footwear, school supplies and computers from the state and local sales taxes.
It doesn’t include an exemption for jewelry, cosmetics, furniture, rented clothing or footwear, items for use in a business, or items placed on layaway or similar deferred payment and delivery plans.
As the lists of required school supplies seem to grow longer and longer each year, parents should be able to feel the benefits of the Sales Tax Holiday. The weekend should be especially welcome for those who might be buying a big-ticket item such as a laptop for a college student, for example.
Of course, our state could use the sales tax revenue as it works through this tough economic time. Nonetheless, our businesses could use the extra income as they fight the recession, as well. They should all be delighted to see the additional customers pouring in.
Shoppers will have to be brave, however, to head out to their favorite stores. The deal-seeking crowds typically grow so thick during the Sales Tax Holiday that you might mistake it for Christmas in August.
Some people question the effectiveness of shopping during the annual weekend.
John Brunk, 18, who works at the Florence Mall, told the Morning News he thinks people actually spend more money during the tax-free weekend.
“Every $100 you spend, you only save $8, so what’s the purpose of trying to go out in public and fight people to get what you need when you can just wait?” he asked.
According to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Back to School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, four out of five Americans say the economy is affecting back-to-school and college plans.
The survey, which was conducted by BIGresearch, also showed the average family with students in grades kindergarten through 12 is expected to spend $548.72 on school merchandise, a decline of 7.7 percent from $594.24 in 2008.
College students and their parents will spend an average of $618.12 this year, up three percent over last year’s $599.38, the survey shows.
In the survey, back-to-college buyers say the economy will cause them to spend less overall (48 percent), shop for sales more often (46.1 percent), and comparative shop with ad circulars/newspapers (30.8 percent).
While it won’t solve all of our economic problems, the state’s Sales Tax Holiday should be something of an encouragement to businesses as well as families having to spend piles of money when that resource has gotten so hard to come by.
On the Web:
A complete list of items exempt from state and local sales tax in South Carolina, www.sctax.org/NR/rdonlyres/A7BD0A78-36BD-4B38-A00A-2AAE332625B1/0/RR059.pdf
South Carolina’s annual Sales Tax Holiday, www.sctax.org/2009SalesTaxHolidayDates.htm
National Retail Federation, www.nrf.com
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement