news-record.com

The annual sales-tax holiday can't get here fast enough for North Carolina residents and retailers.

The three-day break from the 6.75 percent state sales tax starts at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Sunday. During that time shoppers will get a price break on school supplies, clothing, footwear, sporting goods and computers. The N.C. Department of Revenue lists 77 categories of exempt goods ranging from aprons to workbooks.

The holiday will be especially welcome this year because of the weak economy. The National Retail Federation's annual report says parents will spend close to 8 percent less this year to get their children ready to return to school. Nevertheless, retailers hope that swarms of shoppers will help boost their sagging bottom lines. Customers, meanwhile, will be happy to save a few bucks on back-to-school stuff and the other tax-exempt items this weekend.

State and local governments, however, will lose money that would help them close this year's yawning deficits. Last year's tax-free weekend cost the state nearly $12 million in lost revenues. The hit to local governments was roughly half that.

The timing of this year's tax holiday seems unfortunate because state lawmakers are struggling mightily to balance a $19 billion budget. But the direct benefit to cash-strapped shoppers outweighs any inconvenience to merchants (who have to change in-store procedures to make sure they don't collect sales taxes) and state and local governments (because the three-day loss of sales tax revenue is, all things considered, relatively minor). It's a credit to state lawmakers that they didn't kill off this popular program to balance the budget.

Sure, it would be better if a little sales tax relief were spread throughout the entire year and not corralled in a three-day weekend. But in these trying times, every little bit helps.