Tax free weekend saves money, spikes sales

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT ) – Stores were packed today, and taxes were nowhere to be seen.

It’s a tax-free weekend in Georgia.

Shoppers statewide will be exempt from the 4-percent Georgia sales tax–along with any other local sales taxes.

In Bibb County, that’s an additional 3-percent.

Many Middle Georgians say that helps them save a lot of money.

No tax, lots of sales.

Poor or rich, the statewide tax-free weekend will save you money.

“We started this morning with a huge crowd parked out in front,” said Quality Computer Systems owner Brad Spiegel.

Huge crowds mean some major money.

And Quality Computer Systems owner Brad Spiegel is happy with that.

“The sales tax holiday is great for small businesses because for us, it levels the playing field with a lot of people who buy stuff online,” said Speigel.

Because more people come in, Speigel’s sales go way up.

“I would expect that we would probably see within 50 or 60 machines sold within the next two days.”

A significant rise in sales–and it’s a good time for customers as well.

“People that have somewhat of an influx in cash around tax time, and so they have some extra spending cash,” said Speigel. “But that’s not when school gets back in session. So having a little bit of extra budget for back to school makes a lot of sense for a lot of people.”

It really does make sense for customers to complete their back-to-school shopping this weekend.

The holiday shopping period ends at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.