On Sunday, Oct. 1, grocery bills in South Carolina will be a bit
smaller.
That day, the state’s sales tax on food items will drop from
percent
But what state lawmakers give, they also take away. In June 2007, South
Carolina’s state sales tax on all other items will increase by a penny
to 6 percent.
Some homeowners, though, will see their property tax bills, which will
be arriving in the next couple of months, cut in half. The decrease is
possible thanks in part to the coming state sales tax hike.
And when the big post-Thanksgiving shopping event arrives this
November, South Carolina bargain hunters will get a bonus. The state
won’t collect state sales tax on any products purchased on Friday, Nov.
24, and Saturday, Nov. 25.
Whew! Looks like some Palmetto State residents are going to get tax whiplash dealing with all these tax changes.
Not everyone was happy with the tax changes. Opponents of the state
sales tax hike said it will hurt lower-income South Carolinians, who
also are less likely to recoup any property tax relief.
And while the reduction of sales tax on grocery items will provide some
tax help to less wealthy South Carolinians, by next summer they, along
with everyone else in the state, will be paying higher taxes on all
other purchases.
Gobbling up sales tax savings: The addition of a second sales tax
holiday wasn’t as controversial, even though the South Carolina coffer
will definitely take a hit.
Unlike the annual August tax holiday, which is billed as a
back-to-school event and waives state sales taxes only on school-related purchases, the two November tax-free days eliminate
sales tax collection on every item bought. Local sales taxes, however,
will still apply.
The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving are traditionally among the
busiest shopping days of the year. With this year’s added no-tax
component, even more South Carolina shoppers are likely to be out in
force at the state’s shopping centers.
But those more crowded malls on Nov. 24-25 won’t do the South Carolina
treasury any good, a trend that the state tax collector is getting
used to. According to the SC Department of Revenue, the August tax-free
weekend has become the third busiest shopping weekend of the year,
behind the Thanksgiving weekend and the weekend before Christmas.
Hmmm. Weekend before Christmas. Maybe next year, it’ll get its own sales tax holiday, too.
