Just at the right time

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: August 1, 2008

Today marks the start of Virginia’s third annual sales tax holiday weekend for school supplies and clothing.

Virginia wasn’t the first state to offer this kind of targeted tax relief, but since 2006, shoppers have been able to buy school supplies that sell for $20 or less and clothing and shoes that sell for $100 or less — without paying Virginia’s 5 percent sales tax.

The General Assembly likes sales tax holidays so much, it has separate ones for hurricane supplies and Energy Star products. But this weekend, the tax savings will be for back-to-school supplies and clothing.

“The timing of the back-to-school sales tax holiday could not be better for the citizens of the commonwealth,” Tax Commissioner Janie Bowen said in a news release. “With the economy the way it is, and the uncertainty people are feeling regarding their financial situations, everyone can really use a little extra money in their pockets.”

That’s certainly true, and it’s a variation of the original justification for a sales tax holiday, which began as a way to help parents struggling to buy pencils and notebooks and jeans and basketball shoes. Since everyone had to buy those things at around the same time every year, why not give everyone a tax break?

But with the economy in much worse shape than it was in 2006, the sales tax holiday has become even more important this year.

The Virginia Department of Taxation estimates shoppers will save up to $4 million in state taxes this weekend, up from $3.8 million last year.

“We are expecting a lot of interest because of the economy,” said Joel Davison, public relations manager for the Department of Taxation.

While Virginia followed the lead of other states that had sales tax holidays, it didn’t see fit to require merchants to track retail sales over the weekend. So it uses sales data from states that do track sales to come up with that estimate.

No matter how you slice it, though, 5 percent is 5 percent. If merchants want to pile on sales in addition to the sales tax holiday, good for them — and better for consumers.

The only thing that could make Virginia’s back-to-school sales tax holiday any better would be if computers were tax exempt this weekend. But even as it is, the sales tax holiday is a good way for working families to save money on the supplies their children need right now.