Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris)
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Cape May, Atlantic and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes back-to-school sales tax holiday in New Jersey from August 26 through September 1, 2010.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a back-to-school sales tax holiday in New Jersey for retail sales of tangible goods to individuals for non-business use, supplementing P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, receipts from every retail sale in this State of tangible personal property, taxable pursuant to subsection (a) of section 3 of P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-3), to an individual back-to-school purchaser made during the exclusion period for non-business use, but not including retail sales of motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages as defined in the "Alcoholic beverage tax law," R.S.54:41-1 et seq., cigarettes as defined in the "Cigarette Tax Act," P.L.1948, c.65 (C.54:40A-1 et seq.) and energy, are exempt from the sales tax imposed under the "Sales and Use Tax Act," P.L.1966, c.30 (C.54:32B-1 et seq.).
b. As used in this section,
"exclusion period" means the period of time from August 26, 2006, to and including September 1, 2010; and
"individual back-to-school purchaser" means an individual who pays the purchase price and takes delivery in this State during the exclusion period or who places an order and pays the purchase price even if delivery in this State takes place after the exclusion period.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a "back-to-school" sales tax holiday in New Jersey from August 26 through September 1, 2010. Retail purchases of goods made by individual shoppers for non-business purposes during this period will be free of the 7 percent State sales tax. Sales of motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and energy, however, are not included in the sales tax holiday.
Temporary sales tax holidays have occurred in several states during traditional "back-to-school" shopping periods, as well as during other times, and have been limited to consumer purchases of clothing, footwear, other school supplies, and computers. The sales tax holiday proposed in this bill will be more broad based and will treat all merchants and consumers in an evenhanded fashion by providing them with an across-the-board sales tax break on most retail items sold. The tax free period during the end of the summer will provide this tax break to the greatest number of families who traditionally spend on "back-to-school" items during this period.
This tax break for individual taxpayers can be implemented with minimal administrative effort and it provides an administratively simple way to cut taxes for consumers that requires no special taxpayer forms or applications. It is a fiscally safe way of effectively returning tax revenues to individual taxpayers.