Timing is everything, and savvy shoppers can stretch their dollars beginning Friday the 13th.
Florida's back-to-school tax holiday is back this weekend, giving shoppers an effective 6 to 7 1/2 percent discount on retail goods. And many of the covered items don't necessarily have to be related to school.
Among the qualifying purchases: swimsuits, clothing, shoes, wallets, belts, purses and scarves costing less than $50. Oh, and books, too.
Rick McAllister, president of the Florida Retail Federation, calls the tax holiday a win-win for retailers and customers alike.
We could have a 40-percent-off sale and not draw the crowd that this does. But retailers compete by having special sales, so the consumer really wins both ways," he said.
After a two-year hiatus, the sales tax holiday is expected to boost sales and generate a trickle-down effect.
A report prepared last year for FRF said a sales tax holiday would have produced $1.7 billion in economic activity and almost 22,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Tax holidays, which are being held in 19 states this year, aren't all they're cracked up to be, according to the Tax Foundation. The Washington, D.C.-based group brands them "politically expedient" shell games that simply move money around on the calendar for no net benefit.
But Florida TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro said his organization supports the holiday, calling it "a long-overdue tax cut for Florida families that gives retailers a boost. Its benefits may not be as great as some profess, but every little bit helps."
Calabro added that his group plans to conduct an "econometric analysis" of the program.
Defending the tax holiday, McAllister told the Florida Times-Union, Itd be foolish for us to reprogram our point-of-sale systems, to do all the advertising we do, to add the additional hours for part-time employees if it didnt really add anything.
"This works because its a pretty limited number of items that are tax free. But youve got families on the streets and in the malls, and theyre going to spend a lot of money on items that are not tax free.
When youve got more consumers out shopping, good things are going to happen.
Consumers appears to be sending mixed signals this season. The National Retail Federation reported last month that spending on school items for K-12 and college students is expected to increase 16 percent to $55 billion. The average family will spend $606 on school-aged children, compared with $549 last year.
But NRF also reported that nearly one-third of consumers plan to make do with items they purchased last year.
Discounts or not, a study last month by the National Small Business Association reported that keeping shelves stocked may be an issue. The survey said 80 percent of business owners say they have been squeezed by the ongoing credit crunch -- up from 67 percent in 2008.
WHAT'S EXEMPT FROM SALES TAX
- Books $50 or less.
- Clothing $50 or less per item, including shoes and swimsuits.
- Some accessories, $50 or less, including wallets, belts, purses, scarves; school supplies, $10 or less per item, including pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunch boxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses, and calculators;backpacks and bookbags.
WHAT'S NOT EXEMPT FROM SALES TAX
- Watches, jewelry, sports equipment, magazines, audio books, briefcases.
- Sets:Items sold together cannot be split to get under the price limit.
- Coupons:Manufacturers' coupons cannot be used to reduce the price to make the item exempt. A store coupon or discount, however, does count.
Read all the rules and details here.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
