Virginia Tax Free Weekend Could Boost Sluggish Sales

RICHMOND, VA — Nicole Riley, Virginia's director of the National Federation on Independent Business, has some bad news and some good news.

The bad news? "It's been a lackluster summer for a lot of small businesses," she said in a release.

The good news? "The sales-tax holiday should help people get fired up and in the mood to spend."

And there you have it.

Virginia's tax-free weekend is Aug. 5-7, with selected items sold sans sales tax.

The latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, released July 12, shows that small-business confidence improved by only a fraction of one percent in June.

“Small businesses are in maintenance mode,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in the release. “Uncertainty is high, expectations for better business conditions are low, and future business investments look weak.”

Again, though, not all is dour and dire.

“Combined with the back-to-school sales a lot of stores are having, the sales-tax holiday is going to help people get a bigger bang for their buck," Riley said. “The more we can do to encourage people to shop at small businesses, the more jobs we'll save, and the faster our economy will grow.”

Riley also urges shoppers to consider smaller, stand-alone businesses as well as the mall.

During the sales tax holiday period, consumers can purchase qualifying school supplies, clothing and footwear without paying sales tax, according to the Virginia Dept. of Taxation.

Each eligible school supply item must be priced at $20 or less, and each eligible article of clothing and footwear must be priced at $100 or less.

To see the Virginia Dept. of Taxation's detailed list of qualifying list of school supply and clothing items, click here.

Includes reporting by Sharon Reed