House Bill 951 created more than just one tax free holiday
We bet you didn’t know that next weekend, July 30-31 is a holiday weekend. It’s a sales tax holiday, a gift from our state lawmakers and hopefully a boost to local merchants as a little lighter hand reaches into our wallets and purses to buy back-to-school items. But there are limits, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue:
• Clothing and footwear — $100: No sales tax unless item is $100 or less, so that pair of Jordans your child has been eying gets no break.
• Computers and computer related items — $1,000: Includes prewritten computer software purchased for noncommercial home or personal use with a price of $1,000 or less. You would be amazed at the prices of some of the latest software packages.
• School supplies — $20: School art supplies, school computer supplies and school instructional materials purchased for noncommercial use costing $20 or less. You might have to be a bit sly on this one and shop several stores particularly if you’re buying for more than one child.
For a full list of exempted items see: www.tinyurl.com/juctcqj.
With the holiday coming so late, we wonder how many parents in Middle Georgia will wait until the last minute to make back to school purchases. Houston County begins school on Friday before the holiday and Bibb County on Aug. 1. Maybe the lawmakers were really setting the date for the Atlanta area schools. Atlanta Public Schools begin on Aug. 3 and Gwinnett County on Aug. 8. Cobb County does start its school year on Aug. 1. Monroe County begins on Aug. 5, Twiggs County on Aug. 8, Peach County on Aug. 1, Jones County on Aug. 5 and Crawford County on Aug. 11.
Colleges in the area — Central Georgia Technical College, Fort Valley State University, Middle Georgia State University, Mercer University and Wesleyan College — all begin between Aug. 15-20.
As a somewhat interesting side note, the bill granting the back to school sales tax holiday, House Bill 951, also made provisions for a energy and water efficient product tax holiday Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Buyers can purchase — tax free — Energy Star and WaterSense products that cost $1,500 or less. The bill also grants exemptions from sales taxes to major sporting leagues such as the NFL when it stages the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta. That tax break exempts leagues like Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer or NBA’s all-star game if played in the state, along with semifinal or championship games in a national collegiate tournament. Actually, any major sporting event that the commissioner of economic development and the state revenue commissioner think will generate at least $50 million. Now that’s a tax break.
We suppose its a fair trade off, but is it really and how will we know if it isn’t? Certainly hosting a Super Bowl or an Major League Baseball all-star game would be good publicity, but how does that trickle down to the Georgia taxpayers who ultimately foot all the infrastructure bills? It’s a competitive world out there and cities and states are fighting it out. Just ask Charlotte, North Carolina. The NBA announced it was moving its all-star game scheduled for that city for February 2017 because of the bathroom controversy, fortunately something Georgia has managed to avoid. Who knows, could Atlanta bid for that game now that the NBA is looking for another site? And will Georgia continue to stay above the fray?
Atlanta is poised to bid on all the championship contests, college and pro. The Braves will be in their new home, Sun Trust Park in Cobb County, at the start of the 2017 season. Falcons already have a Super Bowl coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2019, and Philips Arena, where the Hawks play, is only 17 years old — and let’s not forget about the old trusty Georgia Dome. It will celebrate its 24th birthday Sept. 6.
While the cities, counties and state won’t make any revenue directly from the sponsors of these big time events, those who attend them will be filling the hotel rooms and paying the 15 percent tax, using Atlanta as an example (8 percent sales tax plus 7 percent room tax).
It does seem a shame that, at least for most of the championship games, the very people who are paying for the tax breaks can’t afford the price of the game’s tickets.
This story was originally published July 23, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "House Bill 951 created more than just one tax free holiday."