It’s “tax freedom” weekend today and tomorrow, as taxes are erased from basic clothing and shoe purchases. Iowa’s shopping malls will be busy this weekend, not just because people are looking for a cool place to escape the heat. The state’s five percent sales tax and local option sales taxes are erased for this Friday and Saturday on clothing and shoes worth a hundred bucks or less. The idea is to give parents a break as they shop for back-to-school goods. In the midst of a slumping economy, retailers hope this gimmick brings in the shoppers like it did last year, when some stores saw sales jump 50 percent on the “tax freedom” weekend. A recent survey found parents will spend over 500 dollars a child on back-to-school stuff, down about four percent from a year ago and stores are competing fiercely for that business. There’s now about 19 square feet of retail space for every American.
