By Staff
from staff reports
A survey of retailer sentiment conducted by the Alabama Retail Association and the Marketing and Industrial Distribution Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reveals optimism is high among Alabama retailers with less than one week to go before the state's first-ever back-to-school sales tax holiday.
In the poll of 191 retailers conducted between July 21 and July 27, 72 percent reported they support the upcoming holiday and 84 percent believe the holiday will bring an overall increase in retail sales revenue in Alabama. Nearly 60 percent of the retailers expect the tax holiday to lead to a significant increase in retail sales statewide.
Because the tax holiday applies only to selected categories of merchandise to be used by students, not all retailers expect the holiday to benefit their individual businesses.  The majority of retailers surveyed, 69 percent, reported that 10 percent or less of their merchandise inventory qualify for the tax relief.  Hence, 57 percent of the respondents believe that the tax holiday will not significantly impact their individual store sales.
The sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and ends at midnight, Sunday, Aug. 6.