(UALR Public Radio) -
Wal-Mart, Dillard's and small retailers around Arkansas are pressing lawmakers to give consumers an annual sales tax holiday. The break is available in all but one state surrounding Arkansas. A lobbyist for Dillard's told a legislative panel the retailer supports the state enacting an exemption on the sales tax at the beginning of the school year. Also, Polly Martin of the Arkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants Association said small stores hurt when consumers can easily travel to neighboring states for the temporary exemptions. A lobbyist for Wal-Mart who attended the meeting said afterward that the company supports the sales tax holiday, as well, because it would help Wal-Mart customers.
Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas offer sales tax holidays in the spring and end of summer. Missouri and Oklahoma offer the holiday in the summer. Mississippi is the only bordering state that does not have a sales tax holiday.
