It’s the holidays and what is one thing that is on the minds of everyone? Shopping! Yes, and this year with the economy slumping people are trying to not only find the perfect gift but the perfectly-priced gift. As I myself have pondered this question a thought entered my head. What if I were to do my shopping in a state that has no sales/general tax? Yes, these states do exist and Finder! and Maker! have a dataset that show sales tax across the USA by state. The map is below:

The states that are a very light cream color (Oregon, Montana, Delaware, New Hampshire) are the states that have no sales/general tax. The darker the state the higher the sales tax rate is in that state.

Now my next question is this. If I am to go to one of these states to shop will I really end up saving more money? I may not be spending money for a sales tax but I certainly will be spending more money on gas to travel the extra distance. I will set up a hypothetical situation using Finder! and Maker! to see what my answer will be.

Let’s say I live in the lovely state of Washington in the city called Castle Rock. In Washington the sales tax is at a rate of 6.5%. Next door to me is my neighbor Oregon that has a 0% sales tax. Now on Finder! I can load major shopping centers that are around me in my area. The map below shows that I have two major shopping centers right by me that are relatively close off of Interstate 5, one in Centralia, WA (Centralia Shopping Center, 34.4 miles away) and the other in Portland, OR (Jantzen Beach SuperCenter, 50.4 miles). These will be the two places that I will compare and the map is below of the two with Castle Rock right in the middle. The map is shown below:

Now let’s do some math. My holiday shopping expenses look like this:

Wife = $70, Mom = $60, Dad = $60, Sisters = $120 = = Total of $310 on gifts

In Washington, with shopping tax this equals 310 x 6.5% tax = 20.15, 310 + 20.15 = $330.15. So the difference between the two states is $20.15.

Now let’s look at gas expenses:

Let’s say gas in Castle Rock is $2.00 a gallon and my car averages a rate of 25 mpg. If my round trip from Castle Rock to Centralia is 68.8 and my trip from Portland and back is 100.8 miles, then my gas costs will look like this.

Castle Rock to Centralia: 68.8/25 = 2.75 g x $2 = $5.50

Castle Rock to Portland: 100.8/25 = 4.03 g x $2 = $8.06

By going to Centralia I will end up saving 8.06 – 5.50 = $2.56

Now as we put these two savings figures together we see that overall our trip to Portland would be a wiser choice. You will spend more money on fuel ($2.56), but you will save much more on your shopping expenses ($20.15). Together it will provide us with a savings of $17.59.

I would like to mention that this is very hypothetical. Often, other circumstances (county taxes, municipal taxes, toll roads encountered, different mpg rates on the trips, and many others) may enter into the equation and change figures. All in all this might be a solution to save money, so create your own hypotheticals using Finder! and Maker! and see if it will help. Below are links to Finder! datasets that show major shopping centers (malls, outlet malls) in a few 0% sales tax states. Happy Holidays and good luck shopping!

• Oregon
• Delaware
• New Hampshire

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