Tax Free In Massachusetts.

Here in Massachusetts, today was a rather unusual day. Why? Well, the five percent sales tax which us bay staters pay on so many things (clothing and food are exempt) was suspended, for this day, August 14th, 2004. I went to Best Buy, but the only two things I purchased were the DVD’s of ‘Kill Bill, Volume 2, and Mr. Tarantino’s well-done, but frequently overlooked work, ‘Jackie Brown’. My total savings was only a buck and a quarter, but some people really saved a sizable amount on some big ticket items.

There are three Apple retail stores in the state. They remained open from midnight, until midnight tonight, a few hours from now. An associate who went to the cambridgeside galleria store told be that the Apple store there was doing a very brisk business, and that powerbooks and digital cameras were the big items. I might have gone myself, but for the life of me, I could not think of anything I needed, computer-wise.

It will certainly be interesting to see if this tax-free day will provide the shot in the arm which retailers are hoping for. I hope so, as business has been bad for them, in this ‘new economy’. ( Note to readers: I promise, I’m not going to get into another rant on why, in a down economy, houses costing millions are staying on the market for days, or in some cases, hours.)

Some of you may have heard of this state referred to as ‘Taxachusetts’. The name is deserved on many levels, but it’s not as bad as some other locales. Take New Hampshire, for example. Residents of the Granite State love to brag about not having any sales tax, or state income tax, (anyone running for public office in NH, who even suggests such a thing, is dead meat at the polls come election day) but property taxes? Holy Crap!! People in small towns, with no services to speak of, such as trash collection, police protection, or even a town library, pay thousands in property taxes. NH also has what I call ‘the tourist tax’, which is a 7 percent tax on hotel and motel room stays. That can certainly add up. I love heading up to New Hampshire for escape weekends, but someone up there really needs to brush up on basic arithmetic.

If anyone has any factual information on the tax system in Florida, will they respond here? I’m told there is no state income tax, but there is 7 per cent sales tax on everything.

This tax free day was an idea of the state legislature, and signed into law by governor Mitt Romeny. Thank you folks. Given the turn out at retailers today, maybe it’s time to consider something more.