No sales tax nationwide from 11/23 to 12/2

There is bill before the US congress that would create a 10 day nationwide tax holiday from 11/23/01 to 12/2/01 in an attempt to boost the economy. Basically anything you purchase in that timeframe would have no sales tax (luxury tax would still apply). The federal government would reimburse the states for tax they would have collected during the period, so there is no opposition from the states. All in all, it sounds like the thing might actually pass. I'm sort of surprised it is getting so little press. My '02 996 C4 Cab left Charleston on a truck today and should be at my dealer later this week or next week. I could potentially save $9K if this bill passes, so I'm very interested in learning more about it. I'm sure others here could benefit as well. Here is what I have found so far... http://www.msnbc.com/news/651484.asp http://www.senate.gov/~murray/taxholiday.html http://www.nrf.com/content/press/releases.htm - Steve

I just called Patty Murray's office (one of the senators proposing the bill). They told me the bill was squashed yesterday (11/15) and will most likely not pass. So, I'm off to pick up my 2002 C4 Cab that has been sitting at my dealer for a few days.

I live in oregon. We already do not have a sales tax. What will we get?

Oregon would have received nothing. Some say that Oregon already has a year-round tax holiday (although you pay for it in other ways, like state income tax). The bill might be proposed again in the future. The basics are that each state can choose to participate if they wish. If they did choose to participate, the federal government would pre-pay the lost taxes for the 10 day period based on a tax estimate from the previous year, and then settle the actual amount due after the tax holiday. The states that normally collect sales tax would win big from the added sales revenue, although there would be some added accounting overhead. The federal government would lose several billion, but they are willing to do so if it will boost the economy. Some believe that a sales tax holiday is the quickest way to pump money from the federal government to the economy, others have different theories. Here is the complete text... http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.1643:

Yes, I understand. But Oregon already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country: 6.6%. This does nothing to help Oregon, and possibly hurt it.

I'm not sure it would hurt Oregon much, but it sure wouldn't benefit them. You would lose some sales from the people that cross over from CA and WA to purchase tax free goods, but that is mostly illegal anyway. You would also not be able to take advantage of an estimated $6.5B in federal funds that would have gone to support the bill. I'm really not for or against the bill. I have no idea if it would have really boosted the economy or not. I have no idea if it would effects states in a negative way. However, if the bill passed, it would effect me and a lot of people on this board in the market for a new car. I'm about to plop down $97K on a car in a county with 8.8% sales tax, so I am looking at over $8K in taxes (not to mention luxury tax). I don't even mind paying the taxes, but if the government comes along and says I don't have to pay them, I'll take it.

I understand completely.