It Is All in Who You Know

The start of the school year is approaching, and many states around the U.S. are hosting Tax-Free Shopping weekends/days.

This weekend was Virginia's shopping bonanza.  Believe it or not, we ventured out.  On a Saturday afternoon.  To the mall.  To Old Navy.  To Target.  We walked out of Target with a 16 lb bag of cat food that we did not pay for.  (Don't worry RD, Hubby is stopping by tomorrow to pay for it.)

My point is, it was C.R.A.Z.Y.  We don't venture out, to shop, on a regular Saturday afternoon, let alone a tax-free, before school begins, weekend.  Now that we shoplifted a bag of cat food I don't think we will be venturing  out any time soon.

O.K.  Despite our venture into shoplifting, this is not what my post is about.

Plus, I promise to no longer use the word "venture" in this post.  

No, I want to discuss the items deemed tax-free worthy by Virginia's powers that be.  

So, go over this list, and you have your usual items:
• Book bags
• Calculators
...
• Composition books• Crayons
• Dictionaries and thesauruses
...
• Paper: loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing
paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board and construction paper
• Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes
• Pencil sharpeners

Then clothing is listed, up to $100 per item:
• Coats, jackets, and windbreakers
• Corsets and corset laces ... (Um, corsets?  anyone?)
...
• Dresses
...
• Formal wear for men and women (sold, not rented) 
• Fur coats and stoles, shawls and wraps
• Garters and garter belts
• Girdles
• Gloves and mittens for general use
• Golf clothing,

Again, um?  Many schools require formal wear, fur coats, garters, girdles and golf clothing?

The list continues with more normal, school related apparel, like:
• Shirts and blouses
• Shoes and shoe laces
• Shorts
• Skirts
• Slacks
• Slippers (O.K., maybe not so school related)
...
Then we end on:
• Wedding apparel, including veils (sold not rented)
Who made up this list?  Who approved this list?  And, when was the last time they went to school, or bought supplies for a child?

"Wait", you say, "don't turn your nose up at golf clothes, my child plays on the high school golf team".  Yes, that would be a relevant argument, however, a couple pages later, we come to the definition of "sports and recreational equipment" and that they are not tax-exempt.  It then goes to list the equipment, and clothing, that are considered "sports and recreational equipment".  Items that students, who play sports, would be purchasing.

With schools raising activity and sports fees, one way they are trying to make up for the state and federal funds they are NOT receiving, one would think our state representatives would make some concessions for our students, and include sports equipment ... and not fur coats.  Seriously!