TAX FREE SHOPPING NEXT WEEK IN QUEEN NYC AND SUFFOLK!!!!
Here Comes Tax-Free Shopping
By Lauren Weber
Staff Writer
January 21, 2004, 9:14 PM EST
Penny-pinching shoppers can save nearly 9 percent next week when New York City offers its first tax-free shopping week of the year.
The tax exemption, which trims 8.625 percent off clothing and footwear costing under $110, runs Monday to Feb. 1. It follows a similar promotion during the August back-to-school shopping season.
These tax promotions draw back city shoppers who flock to no-tax states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said Crystine Nicholas, president and chief executive of NYC & Company, the tourism marketing organization for the city.
New York State waives its 4.25 percent sales tax for the week and encourages counties and local municipalities to follow suit. Nassau County opted not to participate because of budget woes, but neighboring Suffolk and Queens counties are offering the discount.
The city also uses the event to promote New York as a shopping destination to out-of-towners.
'Visitors can plan their trip to New York around tax-free week,' Nicholas said. 'Then we can capture the hotel occupancy tax, food and beverage taxes, and tax from sporting and other special events.'
New York state created the twice-a-year exemption 'to give working families a break,' said Michael Bucci, spokesman for the state's Department of Taxation and Finance.
From 2000 to 2003, New Yorkers enjoyed tax-free shopping 52 weeks a year. The sales tax for clothes under $110 was temporarily reinstated last year to help fill budget holes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has favored a permanent repeal of that tax.
But Gov. George Pataki dashed hopes of an easy resolution on the issue when he announced this week that he wants to keep the sales tax. As a compromise, he suggested four tax-free shopping weeks a year instead of the current two weeks.
The sales tax is an important source of revenue for city government. In the 2001 fiscal year, the repeal saved taxpayers $906 million — and cost the state and counties an equal amount.
Forty-nine out of 62 tax locales have agreed to lift the clothing sales tax next week, says the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Let's get ready for SHOPPPPPPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Lauren Weber
Staff Writer
January 21, 2004, 9:14 PM EST
Penny-pinching shoppers can save nearly 9 percent next week when New York City offers its first tax-free shopping week of the year.
The tax exemption, which trims 8.625 percent off clothing and footwear costing under $110, runs Monday to Feb. 1. It follows a similar promotion during the August back-to-school shopping season.
These tax promotions draw back city shoppers who flock to no-tax states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said Crystine Nicholas, president and chief executive of NYC & Company, the tourism marketing organization for the city.
New York State waives its 4.25 percent sales tax for the week and encourages counties and local municipalities to follow suit. Nassau County opted not to participate because of budget woes, but neighboring Suffolk and Queens counties are offering the discount.
The city also uses the event to promote New York as a shopping destination to out-of-towners.
'Visitors can plan their trip to New York around tax-free week,' Nicholas said. 'Then we can capture the hotel occupancy tax, food and beverage taxes, and tax from sporting and other special events.'
New York state created the twice-a-year exemption 'to give working families a break,' said Michael Bucci, spokesman for the state's Department of Taxation and Finance.
From 2000 to 2003, New Yorkers enjoyed tax-free shopping 52 weeks a year. The sales tax for clothes under $110 was temporarily reinstated last year to help fill budget holes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has favored a permanent repeal of that tax.
But Gov. George Pataki dashed hopes of an easy resolution on the issue when he announced this week that he wants to keep the sales tax. As a compromise, he suggested four tax-free shopping weeks a year instead of the current two weeks.
The sales tax is an important source of revenue for city government. In the 2001 fiscal year, the repeal saved taxpayers $906 million — and cost the state and counties an equal amount.
Forty-nine out of 62 tax locales have agreed to lift the clothing sales tax next week, says the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Let's get ready for SHOPPPPPPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
