NORTHAMPTON — The state is once again dangling a two-day sales tax holiday in front of consumers this weekend in hopes of spurring a little spending in August.
State and local retailers are hopeful the tax break will coax consumers into pulling out their wallets.
“It does make for a busy weekend,” said Betsy Frederick, who owns Raven Books in Northampton. “I think in general it brings a lot of people out to shop downtown.”
On Saturday and Sunday, the sales tax will be waived on any retail purchase made for personal use in Massachusetts, both in-store and online, of $2,500 or less, with certain exceptions. The state’s sales tax is 6.25%.
Eligible larger items include things like furniture, appliances, big-screen televisions and computers. A purchase of $1,000 this weekend, for example, saves a customer $62.50, while a $2,500 buy nets a tax break of $156.25.
In addition to purchases above $2,500, there are a number of exemptions for which the tax still applies, including for motor vehicles, motorboats, meals, gas, electricity, tobacco, and marijuana products and alcoholic beverages.
Shoppers are typically in a good mood, Frederick said.
As for preparation, Raven Books has a manual cash register and they put a red button over the taxable button and a green button over the nontaxable button.
“That’s how we prepare,” she said.
At Cummington Supply, owner Gus Perkins said that the impact of tax-free weekend on his business “depends on the year.”
“We’ve had years where people have shown up at 10 o’clock and tried to quote out an entire house,” Perkins said.
Metal roofs or framing packages are also things people tend to buy over tax-free weekend, he said.
And while on normal Saturdays he has three people working, he’ll have five people on this Saturday. However, the store’s 8 a.m. to noon hours will not be changing, and the business will be closed Sunday as normal.
Perkins said he’s not sure if he’s ever run into a purchase where the tax break was the difference maker.
“People are usually buying things they were going to buy anyhow,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a driver (of the economy).”
Danco Modern, the Hatfield furniture store, has a sale going on throughout the month of August in which it will double the sales tax savings.
“It really is, without the question, the biggest sales month of the year,” said Ross Grant, one of the owners.
He said they’re very busy currently, and that the discount will continue over tax-free weekend. People often start pre-writing their orders for the weekend in July, he noted.
“People are working hard,” he said. “But you wouldn’t want to do this all year round, that’s for sure.”