This weekend, Virginia had its first sales-tax free weekend, and it appears to have been a rousing success:
Virginia’s first “no tax” holiday had area retailers hearing jingle bells on their cash registers this weekend, even though it was just a 5 percent discount.
“It’s like Christmas in August,” said Leah Belcher, Wal-Mart manager for Northern Virginia. “The back-to-school aisles are packed.”
From Friday through today, Virginia waived sales tax on school supplies costing less than $20 and clothing or shoes priced below $100. It’s the state’s first experiment with the tactic, aimed at offering a break to families who face big back-to-school bills. It’s also been a huge windfall to large retailer
We were at one of the larger local malls yesterday, and the place was packed. Interestingly, many retailers selling items that were not eligible for the sales-tax waiver were still offering discounts that covered the cost of the sales tax. I’m sure we’ll find that this weekend went better for retailers than the same period last year. Of course, it would be even better if they eliminated the sales tax entirely…….
