South Carolina To Have Tax Free Holiday For Gun Sales

Most people are probably unaware of it, but on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, handguns, rifles and shotguns will be sales tax free in South Carolina. State lawmakers passed a bill in June that includes the sales tax holiday on firearms. They called it the Second Amendment Recognition Act.

Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Greenwood, was the sponsor of the original bill. He said he got the idea after talking to the owners of a hunting outfitters shop in Clinton about the late summer sales tax holiday for back-to-school supplies and clothing. The store owners said they could use the stimulus, too. "It was to help dealers," Rep. Pitts says. "Another point was to bring recognition to the 2nd amendment."

Kent Parsons, manager of Barron’s Outfitters hunting and fishing store in Columbia, says the days after Thanksgiving are typically busy sales days anyway. He’s hoping that even more people than usual will be buying shotguns and rifles from his store since they’ll be sales tax free. Sales tax will still be charged on ammunition and accessories.

"It might just be enough of a savings that a bigger-ticket item they can justify this year, with economic times being pretty tough," Parsons says. "If you save 50 or 100 dollars on something, that's a fairly sizeable reward."

Gov. Mark Sanford actually vetoed the bill in June, but lawmakers overrode his veto. The bill also includes a sales tax exemption for energy efficient appliances. Gov. Sanford said in his veto message, “While we support the intent underlying sales tax holidays, we are vetoing this bill because we don’t believe that sales tax holidays are an effective method of promoting energy efficiency or the Second Amendment.” He also says several studies have shown that providing a temporary sales tax holiday does not have a significant impact on consumer demand.

The potential for increased sales from the tax holiday comes as gun dealers across the country already report increased sales. Some gun enthusiasts worry that an incoming Democratic president, working with the Democratically-controlled House and Senate, could put new restrictions on gun ownership, so they’re buying now before Barack Obama takes office in January.

But gun control advocates worry that removing the sales tax will, in fact, increase sales as intended and they think it should be harder to get guns, not easier.

Read the complete release from the South Carolina Department of Revenue below:

“Second Amendment” Sales Tax Holiday is November 28-29
South Carolina will waive the state’s sales and use tax on purchases of handguns, rifles, and shotguns during the first annual Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday November 28-29.
The 48 hour tax break firearm purchases begins at 12:01am November 28 and continues through midnight November 29. the tax exemption also applies to any local sales and use tax.
The tax break does not apply to accessories such as ammunition, black power, holsters, archery supplies and similar items. It also does not apply to antique or collectible handguns or handguns that do not fire a fixed cartridge.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue has posted a list of exempt and non-exempt items and answers to some of the most frequently asked questions at its website, www.sctax.org under the “What’s New” section.