Next week, Virginia will celebrate its first hurricane-preparedness sales-tax holiday, where certain purchases will be exempt from the 5 percent state and local retail sales tax.
Approved by the General Assembly in 2007, this is the third sales-tax holiday targeting a specific purpose. The others occur in August for school supplies and clothing and in October for energy-efficient products.
Starting Sunday and continuing for a week, sales taxes won't be charged on a range of products, from generators costing $1,000 or less to other items costing $60 or less. There's no limit on the number of items people can buy.
As customary with the sales-tax holidays, stores can decide if they want to cover the tax on nonhurricane items and pass on the savings to shoppers.
The hurricane-preparedness holiday is scheduled to run each year until 2012.
Ray Hamilton, chief information officer for Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree Inc., said his company hopes the event will generate sales.
"The back-to-school sales holiday is always a big success, so we know that a tax holiday can work to drive business," Hamilton said. "But we won't know until afterward whether or not it worked."
Bill Parker, vice president of operations at Virginia Beach-based grocery chain Farm Fresh, said preparation for hurricanes is key for consumers. The storm season officially starts June 1.
"We hope to sell more merchandise and help our customers get prepared for the upcoming hurricane season," Parker said.
John Poplawski, director of store operations in Virginia for Wawa Inc., the convenience-store chain, said the retailer will offer small-scale items such as batteries and flashlights tax free.
"Our business isn't going to benefit as much as the others, but it gives people an additional incentive to want to be prepared," he said.
Jennifer Jiggetts, (757) 446-2643, jennifer.jiggetts@pilotonline.com
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