Consumers will get a slight break at area cash registers Friday and Saturday when the state sales tax is waived for selected purchases up to $2,500.

The state Department of Revenue, along with Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Legislature, under the Annual Louisiana Sales Tax Holidays Act, has designated Friday and Saturday as the 2007 Sales Tax Holidays. The state sales tax exemption will be on all sales from 12:01 a.m. Friday through midnight Saturday.

The holiday will apply only to the 4 percent state sales tax, not to sales taxes levied by parishes, municipalities, school boards and other political subdivisions of the state.

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"I think this is a good thing for the customers to be able to take advantage of the tax break," said Eileen Landry, owner of Acc/ntrics in downtown New Iberia.

Landry said she couldn't really remember the impact the holiday had on her particular business last year, "but we're more than willing to participate."

The Louisiana Sales Tax Holiday provides an exemption, statewide, from state sales tax on the first $2,500 of the purchase price of most individual items of tangible personal property for non-business use. The state sales tax is payable on the portion of the purchase price of any individual item more than $2,500.

Curt Barrilleaux, owner of Adella's, said last year's tax free holiday, while good for the consumers, had little impact on his business.

"It probably has more of an impact on businesses selling school supplies or computers and electronics," the gift shop owner said. "There the customers can get closer to that $2,500 threshold."

Cynthia Tauzin, office manager at Gulotta's, agrees with Barrilleaux and added, "We are prepared."

Tauzin said the computers at the store have been set up in such a way that there will be no inconvenience to the customers - or employees - and the state tax will automatically be negated during the two days of the holiday.

"Last year was very, very good," Tauzin said. "This is going to be a busy weekend and we've hired extra help."

Gulotta's handles school uniforms for all Teche Area schools, as does Wormser's. John Wormser said his staff in the downtown location is ready for the rush also.

"People like bargains and this is a little bit of a bargain," Wormser said of the upcoming tax-free holiday. "We've changed our computer system over so it's relatively easy for us to handle the two days of sales."

Managers at both Gulotta's and Wormser's say they have "stocked up" for the weekend.

The state's "Annual Louisiana Sales Tax Holidays Act" has specific exclusions for vehicles and meals. In addition, the state sales tax holiday will not apply to purchased of "taxable services" - hotel occupancy; amusement, recreational and athletic admissions; repairs to tangible personal property; laundry, cleaning, pressing and dyeing services; vehicle parking; the furnishing of cold storage space; printing services, and telecommunication services - or to leases or rentals of tangible personal property.

While most of the local merchants said they have reprogrammed their registers themselves in advance of the two-day observance, the state law provides that dealers who incur costs to reprogram registers, including computer programming, as a result of the holidays will be allowed credits on their sales tax returns of up to $25 for each cash register reprogrammed.