August 16, 2019

Anna Murray 

The sales tax holiday has been trendy in the US as an increasing number of state legislators are enacting such measures annually. Former Governor Mitt Romney, served from 2003 to 2007, established the Massachusetts sales tax holiday, which specifically offers the sales-tax break for 2 days in a designated weekend, to stimulate the local economy since 2004. Massachusetts did not enact from 2008 to 2014, 2016 and 2017. But, a 2018 law made the Massachusetts sales tax holiday become a permanent annual event. The 2019 Massachusetts sales tax holiday is set on August 17 and 18.

In the Massachusetts sales tax holiday, the sales-tax break, the exemption of 6.25% sales tax, only applies to items of retail price $2,500 or less regardless of buying in-store or online. It also specifically excludes items such as meals, cars, boats, gasoline, liquors, cigarettes, and marijuana. The products are also mandated to be purchased strictly for personal use, no purchases by corporations or individuals for business use, according to the state’s legislature.

Although critics said the sales tax holiday simply let consumers postpone their purchases until the sales-tax break, the President of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, Jon Hurst, praised such measures to stimulate the economy and said local business owners welcome the 2-day sales tax holiday.

Photo:Webshot.