Wisconsin Back to School Tax Free Weekend Unlikely

Walker’s sales tax holiday would apply to certain purchases targeted to families, including clothing under $75, computers costing less than $750 and school supplies. The personal property tax is primarily paid for by businesses for items like boats, furniture, machinery and non-residential property.

Republican lawmakers have been voicing increasing support for doing away with the 170-year-old personal property tax, if they can find a way to pay for it. Eliminating it would create a $260 million hole that could take property tax revenue away from schools and local municipalities if not replaced with funding elsewhere.

While support is growing to reduce that tax, there appeared to be little enthusiasm for the sales tax holiday. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau in a memo released this week identified several other tax cut options that would more precisely target families in the state, while also raising concerns about how the sales tax holiday would be implemented and whether it would work as envisioned.

Seventeen other states have sales tax holidays.

“I have a feeling it probably won’t happen,” said Republican Sen. Luther Olsen, a member of the budget committee. “People are concerned it’s not money well spent.”

Sen. Leah Vukmir, another Republican member of the budget committee, said she wasn’t hearing support for the sales tax holiday. Vukmir, who is expected to run for the U.S. Senate next year, came out in support Friday of eliminating the personal property tax. She said it would help Wisconsin businesses.

Walker’s spokesman, Tom Evenson, said the governor continues to support a sales tax holiday as a way to deliver tax relief for middle class families. Walker said this week that cutting property taxes paid by homeowners below where they were in 2014 is one of his top priorities for the budget, and he does not want to sacrifice that for cutting the personal property tax that businesses pay.