In addition to saving consumers money, the sales tax holidays would help support the 25 million jobs in the U.S. retail industry, or one out of every five U.S. workers, and millions of jobs in industries that supply retailers with merchandise and services.
A number of states hold sales tax holidays each year – most in the summer to help families with the cost of school supplies – and retailers have found the events prove highly popular with consumers. An NRF survey conducted when a national sales tax holiday was considered in 2001 found 82 percent of consumers favored a tax holiday, 83 percent would take advantage by making purchases, and 69 percent would make purchases they otherwise would not have made.
NRF also called for infrastructure investment in roads, rails, ports, public schools and renewable energy projects, saying it would have a double benefit of creating jobs and repairing systems that are critical to commerce.
“We believe that significant investment in infrastructure spending will provide jobs and increase GDP at a higher rate than most other government investments, and will produce longer-term, sustained growth,” Mullin said.