Sales Tax Holiday

Today begins the annual "Sales Tax Holiday" in North Carolina. Well, it's not really a holiday. And you can only save a little money, but hey, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?

From August 5th to August 7th, consumers pay no sales tax on allegedly school-related items. Clothing, shoes, some other items less than $100, and personal-use computers are all exempt from sales tax. While I'm not sure why we can't get that exemption expanded to 365 days a year, for some, even having the holiday is a problem.

The people at Wilson Daily complain that the holiday occurs too early before school starts. They whine that when the legislators moved the school start date to the end of August, they didn't move the tax holiday. This is yet another publication that complains whenever government doesn't get more or spend more. Me, I go clothes shopping this weekend every year -- and it's when I normally buy a new computer, too.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:42 AM

Comments

1 Can't they just shop earlier?

Posted by: oddybobo at August 05, 2005 09:21 AM (6Gm0j)

2 The biggest complaint: "Parents don't know what the students need for school yet."

I don't even know where to being with that statement. Apparently, in the government's eyes, parents are so stupid they cannot figure out what things a student needs for school. The more I see of people, the more I tend to agree with the government -- people really ARE idiots.

The flip side to the argument is that apparently in today's NC government schools, the schools are SO poor... (How poor are they?)

They're so poor that the schools cannot provide the students with anything, so each school year the teachers provide a list of things that the students need for the upcoming school year. No, I haven't seen one of those lists, but I'm going to try and get my hands on one. Anyone in NC have a sample?

Posted by: Ogre at August 05, 2005 10:00 AM (/k+l4)

3 I just got a call from someone whining that we wouldn't sell them a PDA phone tax free. Big time whining. Cell phones aren't covered. Told him to have the NC Dept of Rev call me to tell me that was legal.

Posted by: William Teach at August 05, 2005 12:25 PM (Pzlrt)

4 They change the rules every year! For example, in previous years, you could buy a computer monitor tax-free. This year it's only tax-free if it's purchased WITH a CPU. There's no rhyme or reason for it, you just try and interpret the law anew each year. Sigh.

Posted by: Ogre at August 05, 2005 01:00 PM (/k+l4)

5 One thing the People's Republic of Minnesota does right is they exempt clothing and unprepared food from state sales tax. I wish it was everything, but it's more than most states exempt.

That's one reason the Mall of America is so popular. People like that it's not just an attraction in and of itself, but they can buy clothing without paying sales tax.

Posted by: Echo Zoe at August 05, 2005 05:08 PM (K+h36)

6 I think PA does that as well. NH exempts everything. I really like that.

Posted by: Ogre at August 05, 2005 05:20 PM (L0IGK)

7 New Jersey exempts clothing and most food stuffs from taxation. I usually buy clothes when I visit the parents.

Posted by: William Teach at August 06, 2005 09:06 AM (Pzlrt)

8 I do the same when I head to NH every year for vacation. It's SUCH an odd feeling:

Me: Hey, this TV is on the shelf for $99.

At checkout I've got $100 cash and am digging around for another $10 and some change:
Cashier: That's $99, please.
Me: Sweeeeeet.

Posted by: Ogre at August 06, 2005 09:20 AM (L0IGK)

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