Will the legislature reverse this rediculous sales tax increase once they realize they have caused the loss of jobs?
as long as they get the free lunches, per diem’s, staff that (publiuc has no right to know about)
2010 , I hope the people of massachusetts say ENOUGH !
For what it’s worth, the economic advice we get is that this sales tax increases is not likely to cause any long term change in buying patterns. Overall our sales tax, with all its exemptions, is not high compared to other states’ taxes.
For what it’s worth? Your getting bad advice..
why would anyone buy a $1000 tv in mass when they can save $60 by going over the border
I am now saving EVERY scent I can by going over the border, Hell I’m filling my gas tank while i’m there and when I have saved enough.. I’m getting the hell out of here, and when all the middle class are finally gone then who are you going to tax to pay for devals cadillac and your free lunches.
I love it.. That’s the typical liberal B.S
they look around the nation and say “well were not the worst” instead why don’t you look around the nation and strive to be the best or the State that taxes the least? why? because that’s not way liberals think! they are going to tax us dry until finally the taxpayer wakes up and votes the jerks out.
If you buy something for $10, this increase means you’ll be paying an extra 15 cents. You’re right that times are tough, but they’re tougher for those who lost their jobs than they are for you and me. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that we chip in a little bit to help out.
That said, sales taxes are generally regressive. It would have been nice if the sales tax increase had been complemented with a more progressive tax increase.
And for the record, I’m middle class.
The vote to increase sales taxes (or any taxes) in this economic enviroment is devoid of logic and understanding of basic economic principles. I’m not sure who is dispensing the economic advice to our reps but it runs contrary to all the economic courses I took in college. I expect there will be people who will get their calculator out to determine if it makes economic sense to drive to NH and shop. There will also be people like Jim who may decide to do all their shopping in NH. The potential loss of business and jobs to NH is not worth the risk. The answer is reducing the size of government and its expenses.
Yuval,
we are not talking about 15 cents here, nice try. can you tell me how many Home depot,Lowes,Best Buy stores are located north of rt 128? I know that they are in Salem and Nashua! When you can save $62.50 on that Stove,Fridge,TV,computer who is going to pass up that savings?
Jim,
I don’t have those stores locations’ memorized, but I *can* tell you that if you do a search on Home Depot’s site for stores within 100 miles of Nashua, half of those stores are in MA. I can also tell you that a cursory search of Best Buys around 03060 (Nashua) vs 02138 (Cambridge) seem to show a higher store density in Massachusetts’ cities than in Nashua’s.
Massachusetts has already been getting along fine with a 5% sales tax. Of course some people are going to make the trip north, but the argument that this additional 1.5 percentage points is going to suddenly drive everyone to NH strikes me as scare mongering.
For the record, I plan to buy a TV in the next couple months, and I have absolutely no plan to waste my time driving to NH to get it.
Btw, according to the Boston Globe, so far it’s not so obvious that there’s been a mass exodus to the north: http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2009/08/06/mass_residents_undeterred_by_higher_sales_tax/
This excerpt, from a store manager, makes the point I was trying to make:
—–
“I don’t think it’s going to affect us that much, personally,’’ said Michael Wasserman, who manages a Lowe’s in Haverhill, near New Hampshire. He said that if customers had been willing to pay the former 5 percent gap between the two states’ sales taxes, this increase, which took effect Saturday, would not make a difference.
“The extra 1 percent?’’ he said. “I don’t think it’s going to drive a new group of people across for the penny.’’
—–
I think that it’s important to temper our knee-jerk reactions and take a look at the larger picture.
From what I have heard from MANY is that it’s no longer about the extra money as much anymore. People are sick of the people passing these tax increases saying “it’s only a cup of coffee extra” well people are spending there money on NH to make a point! We are SICK OF IT! I myself would spend $20 in fuel to save that $20 in Mass taxes only because I don’t want to give the A-Holes on beacon Hill any more money to WAIST!!!! and I would put that $20 in fuel back in the tank in NH!
The 2010 election is going to be VERY interesting!