Shoppers, Retailers Welcome NY Sales Tax Break

April 1, 2012 11:58 PM

. Thousands of shoppers queued up for hours outside many retailers to open to take advantage of “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving ,which is considered the traditional kick-off for the Christmas shopping season. With special promotions and deep discounts, most of the year’s sales in retail are made during the four weeks leading up to the annual 25 December holiday. (Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

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Carolyn Gusoff, Clothes, sales tax, Shoes, state tax

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) — The New York State sales tax exemption for clothing and shoes under $110 is back. Customers began paying four-percent less Sunday.

The move is good news for shoppers and retailers who say that business suffered for the last year and a half while the tax break was suspended.

Merchants said that a move last year to roll back the tax on items under $55 didn’t help.

Sammy Salem, the manager at Shoemania told CBS 2′s Carolyn Gusoff that customer regularly complained about the tax, even as they were making a purchase.

“Even when they come to register they always say, why should I pay this amount of money when I go to New Jersey and pay less for taxes,” he said.

Residents of neighboring states questioned the need for New York to impose the sales tax on articles of clothing.

“I think things should just be across the board for everybody, it should be equal for everybody,” said Mary Martino of Cranford New Jersey.

Lawmakers say that they are making good on a promise and hope that people will take advantage of the exemption.

“We encourage people to take advantage of this exemption and shop at their local businesses. The sales tax exemption will not only aid working families, but will provide a boost to local economies,” said State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Will you be shopping for more clothing now that the tax is gone? Let us know in our comments section below…

M.A.D

I have not been shopping for much of anything because I am unemployed.
mau123

Wanted to add that in NYC, we get hit with the City sales tax as well. So we are paying a LOT more than 4% on items over $110.
mau123

New Yorkers who know better do not pay retail prices for much of anything unless they are masochists or it is an emergency. You can get very good deals on sale or by negotiating. If you are thinking of paying $500+ for shoes, you should be able to do much better and get the same quality–I am not kidding! But I have to agree that $110 really low for clothing like good dresses, suits or coats I really think they should not be taxing food, medicine or clothing at all. They are necessities. When I lived in MN, a fur coat was a necessity because of the extreme cold and we didn’t have high-tech textiles like Thinsulate then. Now that they do exist, they cost about the same as fur. So at least think of raising the clothing limit to $1000 an item. A good down or down equivalent coat which holds up for a few years runs awfully close to that. $110 is not a realistic limit for New York City
man from old ways

i shop on the internet and will pay no taxes the hell with ny outrages overtaxing
JM

I may; however, I fear that retailers will jack up prices as a result of lower tax
john smith

this better not be an April Fools joke…
Robert Moses

I oppose this tax break because it applies to New York City residents as well as the rest of the state. BY LAW, the only purpose of a city is to subsidize its suburbs, so City residents should pay the full tax (plus a little more) to cover the lost revenue from the rest of the state.

Poppy Weeks

why shouldn’t it be the way around? City residents are already paying city income taxes. These tax money have been spent on City infrastructure improvement and so forth which directly and indirectly generate lots of revenue for City and NY suburbs and even other areas.

NL9075

Its per item under $110. Over $110 the full tax of 8.375% applies. Unless you are shopping at Marshalls or Target you can find much decent clothing for less than $110. Shoes alone are $500 + each