Back-to-school goods are tax-free this weekend in Georgia

Georgia will waive sales taxes today and Saturday on back-to-school items ranging from clothes to computers, and Tennessee and Alabama will follow suit next weekend.

Chattanooga-area shoppers flock to stores during these sales tax holidays, and retailers say they're some of the busiest shopping days of the year. But tax policy experts question if the holidays live up to such stated purposes as giving working families a break from what's considered a regressive form of taxation.

"With looking and buying for five kids, every little bit helps," Patricia Hinton, of LaFayette, Ga., said Thursday via Facebook. "I've bought some clothes and shoes I've found on sale, but that's it. Major shopping to finish this weekend."

Susan Waskey, center, takes a box of shoes for her son, Nate, 6, Thursday at Sear's Shoe Store in Fort Oglethorpe.