Jul 26, 2011

Massachusetts shoppers could enjoy another tax holidayBy Noah BiermanBoston.com

Attention, shoppers: State lawmakers are getting ready to bestow their annual back-to-school gift, a sales tax holiday in the middle of August.

House and Senate leaders say they expect to approve a measure this week — passed in a committee today — to suspend the 6.25 percent sales tax on the weekend of Aug. 13 – 14. Governor Deval Patrick said he will sign it.

Shoppers and retailers have come to expect the break, doled out six of the last seven years. There was some early doubt whether the state could afford it this year, given a budget crunch that required cuts to social services, including a clothing allowance for poor children which was slashed from $150 to $40.

But recent tax collections have shot up, meaning the state will probably have more money by year’s end than initially projected. And retailers say the 6.25-percent-off sale amounts to a mini-stimulus for an economy that has yet to fully rebound.

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