Wednesday, April 3, 2002
|
Wednesday, April 3, 2002 |
|
What I think of sales tax holiday Bah, humbug! By CAROLYN CARY At the risk of offending thrifty shoppers, I have to decry the recent sales tax holidays. If there's one thing I've learned in this world, it's pay taxes now or pay them later. Standing firm in this belief, I refused to buy anything this past Friday and Saturday that came under the guise of being state sales tax-free. Certain items of clothing and footwear under $100 were exempt from sales tax. The state of Georgia published 15 pages of what these items were and I feel sorry for the Mom and Pop stores that had to wade through them. For example, here is one of them: The term "clothing" means any article of wearing apparel intended to be worn on or about the human body. Such term does not include accessories or footwear intended primarily for use as athletic or sporting gear such as golf shoes or football uniforms. The application of the exemption to the sale of clothing or footwear during the exemption period is illustrated by the following example: A customer purchases three shirts for $45 per shirt. All three items qualify for the exemption, even though the customer's total purchase price ($135) exceeds $100. A customer purchases a pair of shoes for $110. The purchase does not qualify for the exemption because the customer's total purchase price exceeds $100. Say what? OK, OK. So you saved $21.32 by taking advantage of this event. But have you considered what it has done to your county's income? The income that supports the fire department, the police department, the ambulance service, etc.? The same two days in March of last year saw an income from sales tax of $84,900. On a per day basis, unincorporated Fayette County received $20,184; Peachtree City received $15,144; Fayetteville, $4,827; Tyrone, $2,086; and Brooks received $251. How is this loss going to be made up? An increase in ad valorem tax? Increase the sales tax another 1 percent? I understand that merchants said their sales for those two days were 10 times higher than usual. I'm more concerned, however, with my county being able to provide emergency services than a department store making a big profit. $84,900 is not chump change and we are all going to have to make it up, whether we do it now or whether we do it later.
|
||