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Sales Tax Holiday Weekend Scheduled In Massachusetts

Holyokemall.com

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker Thursday signed a law declaring a sales tax free weekend August 15 and 16.

Baker acknowledged the tax break costs the state revenue, but he said it is something consumers and retailers have come to expect.  Massachusetts has had a sales tax holiday weekend in all but one year since 2004. 

Jon Hurst , president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said it helps local stores capture sales that would otherwise go to other states or online where no sales tax is collected.

" We would urge our consumers to really remember how important it is to shop local and invest in their 'Main Streets', if they want their ' Main Streets' to survive and thrive," said Hurst at Thursday's bill signing at the Statehouse.

The sales tax suspension does not apply to cars, boats, and tobacco products and items costing more than $2,500.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.