Hurricane supplies will be tax-free

The Associated Press
Published: May 18, 2008

RICHMOND — Virginians already have been excused from paying sales taxes on back-to-school supplies and energy-saving appliances.

Now it’s hurricane preparedness supplies.

The state’s first Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins May 25 and continues through May 31. During that week, sales tax will not be collected on generators costing $1,000 or less, or on nearly two dozen other items ranging from flashlights to duct tape.

State officials say they hope the 5 percent savings will encourage shoppers to stock up on items they would need if the state gets slammed by another storm like Hurricane Isabel, which left about 1.8 million Virginians without power — some for weeks — in 2003.

“As we’ve seen time and again, including recently with several tornadoes hitting the state, weather can be very unpredictable and end up causing a lot of damage and hardship,” said Tax Commissioner
Janie E. Bowen. “Virginians should seriously consider equipping themselves for the upcoming hurricane season, and saving the 5 percent in the process is an added bonus.”

The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1.

The General Assembly approved the tax break in 2007. It’s based on a similar initiative that existed in Florida for three years. Florida lawmakers, facing a $5 billion budget shortfall, did not reauthorize the tax break for 2008, leaving Virginia and Louisiana as the only states with a sales tax exemption on hurricane preparedness supplies this year.

“The reason it’s so important, and the reason the state backed it for the three years, was that retailers can’t really respond the way consumers want them to in the three days before a hurricane hits,” said Rick McAllister, president of the Florida Retail Federation. “People are panicked and buying everything on the shelves.”

Retailers are going to sell the supplies one way or another, he said, and it’s best to do it when there’s less pressure on the supply side.

“To have a list that you can check and make sure you have everything you need in advance, before a hurricane is barreling down on you, just makes sense for everybody,” McAllister said.