Maryland, Florida, and the District of Columbia have chosen not to reinstate sales tax holidays this year. Some of the other 15 states offering holidays are thinking about repeal or suspension during these tough economic times. The demise of the sales tax holiday may be the one good thing that comes out of this recession. You see, sales tax holidays are political gimmicks designed to make people think they are getting a break when they are not. Politicians who hawk them should be ashamed. But politicians are rarely ashamed.

The sales tax holiday is usually a weekend right before school starts when people can buy clothing and computers and other items tax free. They were always touted as programs to help the hard working poor just trying to make ends meet. I get teary eyed every time I hear a politician talk about helping the poor, downtrodden, and dispossessed. But sales tax holidays never helped anyone but retailers. That is why the retailer associations in almost every state lobby for them. Because of the increased demand, retailers raise their prices (or don't offer as many discounts). So the poor citizen saves on the tax but pays more for the underlying product. The savings are negligible at best. The retailers, knowing the stores will be crowded, earn big because they can adjust prices and inventory.

Some politicians have argued that sales tax holidays boost the economy because they get more people in the stores. That is a dopey idea. When people have $100 budgeted for back to school clothes, they don't spend $300 because of a sales tax holiday. Tax holidays change when people shop. If the holiday is the first weekend of August, they won't shop the second weekend. Holidays affect the timing, not the amount of the purchases.

Holidays were always palatable because they did not cost the state much (about $700,000 in DC). But now states cannot afford even the relatively small cost. That is a good thing because the only things holidays ever produced were windfalls for retailers and opportunities for politicians to pat themselves on the back.