Abstract
Some states hold sales tax holidays (STHs), losing tax revenue and claiming that the STHs increase the competitiveness of local businesses relative to businesses in nearby states. I use a fixed effects estimation procedure on days of the year with consumer microdata from the BLS to test this claim. I find that despite strong effects on the number of items purchased and money spent by households when an in-state STH occurs (+43%, +52%, respectively), there is no discernable effect on consumers in nearby states.