Massachusetts finally joins 2008 sales tax holiday lineup

Sure, it was the anti-tax efforts of the Boston Tea Party participants who got the American Revolution really rolling, but in recent years, Massachusetts lawmakers have taken their sweet time when it comes to approving that state’s sales tax holiday.

With the July 31 end-of-session deadline looming, Bay State legislators finally OK’ed a two-day sales tax break for shoppers.

UPDATE July 31, 2008: Patrick has signed the bill.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has not yet created a 2008-specific Web page for this year’s
holiday, but like all since the law was first created in 2004, it follows these guidelines.

On Aug. 16 and 17, as soon as the governor’s expected signature is added to the bill, the state’s 5 percent sales tax won’t be collected on most items costing up to $2,500.

There are, of course, some exceptions. Boats, cars and meals and tobacco products will still be taxed; so will telecommunication services and gas, steam and electricity utilities.

This is the fifth consecutive year for a Massachusetts sales tax holiday. However, lawmakers stopped short of making the tax-free shopping weekend an annual event.

So Massachusetts shoppers, you’ll have to check back around this time next year to see if you’ll be able to save a few sales tax cents in 2009.

And if you live outside of New England, check out this previous post (as well as this follow-up, consolidated one) to see if your location is one of the 14 other jurisdictions holding sales tax holidays in August.