NC Sales Tax Holiday

As the school year quickly approaches, parents and college students are rapidly preparing for start of a new year. School supplies, clothes, dorm room survival necessities, and more, are all flying off the shelves of Targets and Wal-Marts everywhere. As the North Carolina Tax Holiday approaches this weekend, higher end product retailers and clothing stores are getting ready for a cascade of shoppers wanting to get their laptops, designer jeans and other expensive items that usually generate higher sales tax revenues.

Although most people are fully in summertime living mode, the NC Sales Tax Holiday, which started in 2002, is a big wake up call for those not yet ready for fall. Just a week and a half to two weeks before major universities start classes, “tax-free weekend” initiates the back-to-school/prepare for fall phase for shoppers, which can be a sad time for those who love summer. But in the end, you can’t be too sad about the deals you’ll be getting:

[NC Sales Tax Holiday takes place] between 12:01 A.M. on the first Friday in August and 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday. Clothing, footwear, and school supplies of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials of $300 or less per item; sports and recreation equipment of $50 or less per item, computers of $3,500 or less per item; and computer supplies of $250 or less per item will be exempt.

But do people over-shop for school supplies because they are excited about saving on tax? Would you upgrade from the regular MacBook Air to the MacBook Pro on tax-free weekend because you knew buying a regular MacBook Air with sales tax was comparable to buying a 13-inch MacBook Pro without the sales tax? There’s a reason why NC implements this law, and while some of it has to do with the people, most of it is giving everyone and incentive to go out and shop more and for better products, increasing GDP more than the tax revenues would have brought in. Either way, the spree is upon us, so get ready, get set, shop!