Texarkana Gazette editorial board endorses Hutchinson's plan

Sales Tax Holiday: For or Against?

For. We need any help we can get out here. Our retailers can't compete with businesses in other states due to our lack of a sales tax holiday. Against. I'd rather have a sound tax policy without holidays for gas and sales tax purchases. If the government can afford to give us these tax breaks without raising taxes elsewhere, I'd rather have an overall permanent lower tax burden. view results comments

The editorial page in today's Texarkana Gazette is devoted to Rep. Donna Hutchinson's plan for a sales tax holiday in Arkansas. Arkansas-side retailers in Texarkana take a larger hit than probably anyone in the state during the sales tax holiday in Texas, although some try and make due with sales of their own.

Advocates believe it's a good way to boost business and help consumers prior to the new school year, and opponents believe it's a gimmick that complicates tax filings and record keeping and really doesn't have any major effect on the local economy. What say you?

Previous polls:
Poll No. 14: Nation's most distressing problem
Poll No. 13: Toughman Contests
Poll No. 12: Stimulus Package
Poll No. 11: Satellite medical school campus
Poll No. 10: Taxes
Poll No. 9: Digital billboards in Arkansas
Poll No. 8: Partisan primaries
Poll No. 7: Notification of MRSA infections
Poll No. 6: "No match" letters
Poll No. 5: Novelty lighters
Poll No. 4: 2007 Razorbacks
Poll No. 3: Governor Beebe's job performance
Poll No. 2: The severance tax
Poll No. 1: Flavored cigarettes