If the holiday shopping season of 2008 wasn”™t bad enough, the Retail Council of New York State is reeling from Gov. David Paterson”™s proposal to reinstate the sales tax on shoes and clothing purchases less than $110.
In a prepared statement, retail council President and CEO James Sherin issued a plea to the state to keep shoppers within its borders. “We have been hit hard by this economy, and we see the impact every day when our customers have to watch every dime they spend … or they don”™t come in at all.
“If the retail industry had its choice, we wouldn”™t collect sales tax on anything. But because it is such a huge component of the state”™s fiscal calculus, we know that would never be a possibility … sadly, though our sales tax structure already demands a lot from the shopper, this budget puts unprecedented and new tax and fee burdens on the consumer. Whether through re-imposition of the clothing and footwear sales tax or the effective 26 percent sales tax on soda and soft drinks, through new sales taxes on haircuts and movie tickets and higher taxes when customers try to save a few pennies by using a coupon in a grocery store, it”™s going to cost a lot more to be a New Yorker.
“Retailers are just now beginning to digest the operation problems these and other tax proposals promise and then inflict on their customers … each one makes New York stores less competitive and more expenses. Now is hardly the time to tell our shoppers they have to pay more.”
Sherin urged the state to require all counties to participate in the two weeks of sales-tax-free shopping on clothing and footwear purchases the budget proposes.
If anyone has been out shopping, there are plenty of after-holiday markdowns, but it hasn”™t been the treasure trove retailers hoped for. Sales for the 2008 holiday shopping season were at their lowest point since post-World War II.
