Monday, Nov. 23
Posted 8 a.m. EST
Black Friday shoppers in West Virginia and South Carolina, get ready. Your state has a bonus for you.
Tax officials in the Mountain State are letting you pick up energy efficient appliances without having to pay any sales taxes.
Further south, Palmetto State tax officials aren't collecting sales taxes on guns.
You heard right. South Carolina is holding its second annual Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday. This two-day no-tax event takes place on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 27 and 28 this year.
During these two days, shoppers can pick up handguns, rifles and shotguns without paying any sales tax on the weaponry.
Gun law redone: South Carolina lawmakers had to work extra hard to make this year's event happen.
Back in May, the state's Supreme Court ruled that the law that created the Second Amendment and separate Energy Star sales tax holidays was unconstitutional. Specifically, the sales taxes violated the state constitution's "single subject" rule, which prohibits stringing unrelated measures together in a single bill.
Following the court decision, these two tax holidays were canceled.
But not for long, at least when it came to the gun one.
South Carolina's General Assembly tacked a court-acceptable Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday onto the state's 2010 appropriations bill. But because it's part of the fiscal year measure, the gun tax holiday is temporary and won't be on the calendar in future years ... unless lawmakers take further action.
Who wants to bet me that South Carolinians will find a way to keep the don't-tax-my-guns holiday on the books?
Mountain State energy and tax savings: As for West Virginians, they'll get a sales-tax break on residential Energy Star appliances that cost $5,000 or less.
The Mountain State's energy saving tax holiday actually has been in effect since Sept. 1. It was expanded this year to three months, and the tax savings end on Nov. 30.
These tax-free items might not be exactly what you planned to put under the tree, but it never hurts to check them out just in case there's someone on your nice list that would appreciate such gifts.
Sorry, D.C. shoppers: Folks who've followed tax holidays closely probably are asking, where's the National Capital holiday season sales tax holiday?
This event traditionally began on Black Friday and ran through the following Friday. But because of budget concerns, the late November-early December sales tax holiday was repealed.
This is the second sales tax holiday that District of Columbia shoppers lost this year. D.C. officials also canceled the August back-to-school sales tax holiday in order to avoid the loss of an estimated $640,000 in sales tax revenues.