Sales Tax Holiday Weekend In Mass. Set For August 17-18

BOSTON, JUNE 14, 2019 (State House News Service) - Lawmakers agreed Thursday to implement this year's sales tax holiday on the weekend of Saturday, Aug. 17 and Sunday, Aug. 18.

The House and Senate adopted resolutions calling for suspension of the state's 6.25 percent sales tax. The House resolution initially recommended Aug. 10 and 11 as the dates, but members agreed to an amendment filed by Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante — who also filed the initial House resolution — to push the dates back a week.

Rep. Paul Donato, who presided over the House session, told the News Service that Aug. 17-18 "would be a better time for businesses" to benefit from the holiday.

It was the first time lawmakers established the annual sales-tax holiday dates through a process established under a 2018 law that calls for legislators to choose by June 15 a weekend in August to designate as the holiday. If legislators missed that deadline, the Department of Revenue would have had until July 1 to announce dates for the holiday.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said the tax holiday would benefit retailers and consumers.