Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday could be axed for 2016 fiscal year
A bill that would suspend all state sales tax holidays for the 2016 fiscal year — including the annual three-day Second Amendment event held each September in advance of hunting season — easily passed through the Louisiana House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill, HCR 15 by Rep. Jack Montoucet (D-Crowley,) is now headed to the Louisiana Senate’s Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs. It passed the House by a vote of 83 to 7, with 15 representatives absent during the vote.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Office, suspension of all three holidays would add back about 4.3 million dollars to the state’s coffers: Roughly $3.5 million from the General Sales Tax Holiday typically held in August, about $600,000 from the Second Amendment Tax Holiday event and just more than $100,000 from the Hurricane Preparedness tax holiday, which will be held this coming weekend.
Sammy Romano, manager of Chag’s Sporting Goods in Metairie, said the annual three-day Second Amendment tax holiday was always a solid boost for the store.
“We do better on that sales tax weekend a lot of times than on our in-store promotions,” Romano said.
And with the current state of the economy, Romano thinks people might just end up holding off on larger purchases if the tax holiday is ultimately suspended, which would result in lower than expected tax revenues for the state.
“In this economy, it’s hard to make ends meet as it is. It’s hard for people to make large purchases,” he said. “Lower oil prices are affecting people’s jobs, and it’s tough for people to make large purchases and feel good about it, but that was always kind of a trigger for people to maybe turn loose a little money they were holding on to.
“I think you’re just going to see a loss of those sales, and ultimately you’ll end up hurting the businesses. It’s not that you’re going to get back tax money — people just aren’t going to buy.
“So it’s one of those deals where the state cuts their nose off to spite their face.”
Text from the bill says suspension of the tax holidays would bolster the state’s general fund revenues and help finance the operation of state government next year since “the economy of our state and our nation has been ravaged by falling oil prices, difficult job markets, and recessionary environments in key global economic regions which have lead to less demand for Louisiana goods and services” and “the specter of these difficult economic times looms over our state and the projected $1.6 billion shortfall Louisiana faces in funding state government operations next fiscal year.”
If ultimately approved by the Senate, the tax holiday suspension would be in effect for 60 days after final adjournment of the 2016 legislative session.
