Alabamians set a record for holiday spending in 2020, despite coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Alabama Retail Association today said shoppers in the state spent 11.6 percent more during the last two months of 2020 than they did over the same period a year earlier. It was the highest holiday growth rate on record.
Taxed sales in Alabama for those two months reached $14.79 billion, based on sales tax collections on general merchandise, restaurant and other food service, automobiles, machinery and vending, plus collections from online sales made through the state’s Simplified Seller Use Tax.
Monthly spending both online and in stores in December, which was the highest ever recorded for that month, exceeded every other month in 2020. The numbers were better than the national average, when holiday retail sales grew 8 percent, according to the National Retail Association.
“Alabamians were determined to have happy holidays in a year filled with the adversity and stress of the coronavirus,” Alabama Retail Association President Rick Brown said. “Passage of another stimulus package and the availability of even the limited amount of vaccines in late December also had a positive effect on spending.”
And the year’s total tax receipts were better in Alabama, despite the COVID lockdown measures of March and April. Sales tax collections grew 7.13% for the entire year, based on the Alabama Revenue Department abstract. Retailers and other businesses collected more than $3 billion in sales taxes from Alabamians in 2020, and increase of $203 million over 2019.
Remote sellers remitted 14.44% of the total sales taxes collected in Alabama in 2020 through the state’s SSUT program, representing a 58% growth over 2019 in Alabama. Collections from the other 86% of sellers grew almost 4%.
The National Retail Association forecast between 6.5% and 8.2% growth in retail sales nationally in 2021 with the vaccine rollout expected to expand.
“Consumer spending, especially through retail sales, drives our economy,” said Brown. “Alabama’s retailers, both small and large, continue to invest in their employees and communities, while utilizing all means possible to safely provide ways for Alabama’s consumer to buy the goods they need for daily living.”
The Link LonkFebruary 25, 2021 at 04:33AM
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In spite of pandemic, Alabama’s holiday sales up almost 12 percent - AL.com
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