Today begins Missouri's sales tax holiday weekend that - depending on perspective - can be benefical, detrimental or convoluted.
The holiday benefits Missouri families, who today through Sunday may purchase specific back-to-school items without paying state sales taxes. Exempt items include clothing, school supplies, computers and computer software.
The holiday is detrimental for governments, which forgive collecting sales tax revenues during the three-day period. Since Missouri created the sales tax holiday in 2003, some local governments have opted out.
Jefferson City and Cole County do not participate in the sales tax holiday; both continue to collect their sales taxes, and they are hardly alone. A list of local governments that opt out is available online dor.mo.gov/business/sales/taxholiday/school/.
The holiday, however, does not apply to all business.
Although Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a champion of the sales tax holiday, said it helps "Missouri's economy with a boost in retail sales," only retailers who sell tax-exempt items experience the boost.
And any boost in sales may be offset, particularly for small business owners, by the red tape of calculating which items are exempt and which sales taxes apply.
We put the question to two leaders of local government who also are retail business owners - Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin and Cole County Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman.
The city collects two sales taxes, for capital improvements and for parks and recreation; the county collects three - for capital improvements, ambulance service and law enforcement.
The mayor said she would welcome City Council discussion on the issue, perhaps in advance of next year's holiday. She said a consideration for her would be weighing increased sales against diminished tax revenue. Although she sees the sales tax holiday as a potential marketing tool for businesses, she said she would need to explore whether calculating and reporting the temporary tax relief was a burden for business owners.
Bushman said Cole County has opted out since the beginning, but he is curious and plans to ask county financial officials to calculate the amount of tax revenue the county would lose through participation.
As a small business owner, he said the burden is not significant. "We break it down manually," he said, "and do two tickets if necessary. It take a little extra time, but it's part of being a retailer."
We remind customers that the sales tax holiday this weekend applies only to state, not local, sales taxes.
And, now that more than 10 years have passed since the annual sales tax holiday began, we encourage both city and county officials to revisit participation, based on a review of the benefits, drawbacks and - most importantly - the numbers.