The House adjourned for an extra-long weekend Thursday morning after adopting a resolution designating the weekend of Aug. 12-13 as this year’s sales tax holiday. The Senate on Thursday morning agreed to the same dates for the tax holiday.
The state’s 6.25 percent sales tax will be suspended on retail sales of less than $2,500.
Although business leaders view as a major boon, there appears to be little interest among Beacon Hill Democrats in expanding the annual sales tax holiday beyond one weekend in August, the requirement under a 2018 law.
“No, we’re not there yet,” Senate President Karen Spilka replied Monday when asked about offering a longer break from the levy. “But we will be doing the weekend.”
Gov. Maura Healey, who has pitched permanent tax relief measures as a necessary step to reduce the cost of living in Massachusetts and make the Bay State more competitive among its peers, was noncommittal about whether she would put her political muscle behind a sales tax holiday expansion. Some Republicans, including her predecessor, unsuccessfully pursued that idea.
Asked whether she viewed a lengthier suspension of the 6.25 percent sales tax as a way to boost competitiveness, Healey instead pivoted to the pitch that she regularly uses to explain why she thinks people should stay in -- or move to -- Massachusetts.
“There’s a lot we need to do and continue to do to be competitive,” Healey said. “We talked about tax relief, we talked about housing and the importance of working to reduce housing costs, child care costs and the like. But there’s so many reasons why people should stay in Massachusetts, should come to Massachusetts. When we look at, you know, access to education, access to health care, access to reproductive health care, protection of civil rights, protection of voting rights, protection of LGBTQ rights -- all of these things are really important to a lot of people, including a lot of employers.”
The 2018 “grand bargain” law that raised the minimum wage, outlined a state paid family and medical leave program, and phased out time-and-a-half pay on Sundays and holidays instructed Beacon Hill to temporarily lift the sales tax one weekend each August.
As part of that law, retailers backed away from their plans to put on the statewide ballot a proposal to roll the sales tax back to 5 percent, the rate it was at for years before the Legislature in 2009 raised it as part of a budget-balancing package.
The announced dates line up with the request from Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst, who said the second weekend in August strikes the right balance between the summertime slow period and the flurry of the back-to-school shopping season.
Hurst estimated that the annual sales tax holiday weekend generates roughly half a billion dollars in sales for Massachusetts businesses.
“We have some members that it’s their biggest weekend the entire year. Others say it’s comparable to either Black Friday weekend or a weekend in December. It literally brings people out to shop when they otherwise would not be spending dollars,” he said in an interview Monday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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