CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Retailers Association wants state lawmakers to understand the significance of any increase in the consumer sales tax.
A wide range of possible increases has been discussed in the last 10 days while the majority of lawmakers have been out of Charleston on recess. The current sales tax is at six percent.
Any decision to change the rate by lawmakers would be felt just about everywhere, WVRA President Bridgett Lambert said.
“Every item purchased in every household every day would be impacted,” Lambert said.
The organization hasn’t taken a “hard and fast” stand on what the rate should be, according to Lambert.
“We’re just pointing out the impact that this increase could have on the consumers in West Virginia and where they shop,” Lambert said.
Opponents of increasing the sales tax have mentioned how businesses in border counties would be negatively impacted but it’s more than just those five borders, Lambert said.
“Retailers compete nationally online every day,” she said. “More and more packages are delivered to front doors. So we’re competing nationally and we think the legislature needs to be thoughtful about that.”
The spread of Home Rule cities in West Virginia is also part of the discussion. Lambert said by July 1 there will be 38 municipalities in the state that have raised the sales tax by at least one percent under Home Rule.
“In a lot of communities West Virginians are already paying seven percent sales tax,” she said.
Large ticket items would be the hardest hit, Lambert predicted.
“Maybe an engagement wedding ring set, a computer, a heating stove, a cook stove, a water tank, washers and dryers, furniture, mattresses, those are large ticket purchases where this type of increase in a household–people look at that,” Lambert said.
Several members of the West Virginia Retailers Association are also online retailers but Lambert said they have brick and mortar commitments in the Mountain State.