Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Tax free weekend: Are you buying?

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In need of some Spackle, I visited my local hardware store this week, only to find a few workers out front assembling snow blowers for display.

“You can’t be putting those out already,” I pleaded.

“Tax free weekend, brother,” one employee replied.

“Oh. OK, I get it.”

I don’t need a new snowblower or any other big ticket items, so I’ll be sitting this one out. How about the rest of you?

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  1. and pulled a couple 10 HP snow throwers off of it.  I thought for a moment about the sweat beading on my forehead, and for a moment, a fleeting moment, I could hear angels crying.

  4. We needed new speakers and the store was out of the particular model and color we wanted when we went yesterday.  The store guy suggested that we date the sale today rather than yesterday and get the tax holiday.  I think it’s completely legit, since we’re not getting the speakers for a week or two in any case.

  5. Weston Nursery is having a 20% sale for its “member card” customers. Tack on the 5% tax break and it’s a pretty good deal.

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    p>I’m going to go over and scope out some andromedea and azaleas for the front yard, plus an allegedly squirrel-proof bird feeder.

    • LOL there is no such thing! My mom and I used to feed birds and birdwatch when I was a kid, and no matter what the hell we did, those buggers could figure out some way to thwart us.

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      p>I mean, has anyone ever tested squirrel IQ? I bet they rate at least the brain power of Mitt Rommey.

      • I got a “Yankee Tipper” feeder, made by Droll Yankee. The mark-down for frequent shoppers was 25%, not 20%, so it wss a good deal. The thing holds 5 pounds of sunflower seeds. It has a base which is attached to a spring — no problem for a cardinal, but a squirrel supposedly will find itself unceremoniously dumped onto its furry little tush. See video at http://www.drollyankees.com/ (And unlike the Mittster, at least squirrel are honest about their greed.)

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        p>I also picked up three “Coral Reef” bee balm, which is violently pink, and some more day lilies — large enough plants which can be divided, so that the three plants will be at least 6, maybe 9.

        • My daughter asked, “Is the squirrel doing gymnastics?”

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          p>High level of difficulty, but he didn’t nail it…

        • You can make it not autoformat by using backslashes:

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          p>*Bold* -> Bold
          *Not Bold* -> *Not Bold*

      • …but the new fridges are MONSTERS.  Finding one that fit under our cabinets was a royal PITA.

        • this is why technology won’t save us from climate change.  Improvements are offset by increasing size or power, everything from autos [HP gains] to refrigerators [size] to everyday gadgets [more things plug in, total plug load increases.

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          p>Efficiency goes up, but so does size/power, offsetting gains.

          • … could help but it depends on what the end goals of improvements are.  The engine technology that was developed in the 80s could have resulted in higher MPG, but as you pointed out, the technology was instead put into the service of HP and powering heavier cars.  What has to change is the perception of what the goals are or should be.  Simply put, the production sector has to be made to believe that demand for green goals are real.  If they become convinced, technology would be deployed toward green goals rather than other distractions.

    • What makes you think that if the income tax elimination is passed, that there won’t be other taxes and fees (a tax under another name) levied to raise the revenues needed to do the things most of us agree we want the state to do?

      • This topic has been beaten to death here, but here goes anyway.  All four states without income tax make up for it either by obscenely high property taxes or absurdly high sales taxes and fees. Try buying clothing in Texas or a house in New Hampshire if you don’t believe me.

        • have to make up for them in other ways, then how about the other 5?

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          p>The comment in the post you linked counts states without personal income taxes but with corporate taxes as states with income taxes.  Since Question 1, to the best of my knowledge, does not change the MA corporate excise tax, you should be talking about the 9 states without personal income taxes.  It doesn’t change the underlying point you’re making, but it does take away your misleading statement that only 4 states manage to exist without personal income taxes, when the number is actually 9.

          • Only 7 states have no income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Tennessee tax dividends and interest income.

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            p>Ignoring Mr. Morin’s snark, the base point is unchanged.  As the Retirement Living Information Center points out, lack of income tax is not a good indicator of actual tax burden.

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            p>

            Many people planning to retire use the presence or absence of a state income tax as a litmus test for a retirement destination.  This is a serious miscalculation since higher sales and property taxes can more than offset the lack of a state income tax. The lack of a state income tax doesn’t necessarily ensure a low total tax burden.

            States raise revenue in many ways including sales taxes, excise taxes, license taxes, income taxes, intangible taxes, property taxes, estate taxes and inheritance taxes.  Depending on where you live, you may end up paying all of them or just a few.

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            p>More interesting is the concept of “Tax Freedom Day” — the day on which your salary stops going to taxes.   As this 2008 map shows, Florida and Mass. are just two days apart and North and South Dakota are identical. Washington comes after us…

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            p>NB: this is without factoring in fees.

    • What makes you think that if the income tax elimination is passed, that there won’t be other taxes and fees (a tax under another name) levied to raise the revenues needed to do the things most of us agree we want the state to do?

    • ….it passes we can all sit back and watch the legistlature override it in less than  72 hours.

  9. I bought a new TV to replace a 20 year old one that has served its master well. Yes, waiting for a good sale would be better than saving 5% sales tax, but I’ve been watching the prices online for several months now, and I haven’t seen any prices much better than what I paid, so the tax free deal was worth it. In addition, I got an additional 8% discount as a member of AAA. I’m satisfied. It was a purchase I was going to make in any case, so this just saved me a few more dollars.

  10. It’s called “Freecycle” and you can’t believe some of the stuff I’ve gotten for free from members of my community!

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    p>One great free item I got is a very pretty seats-six glass-top outdoor table. No umbrella (I’ll have to try and freecycle one at some point), and no chairs (again Freecycle), and I need to repaint it someday, but it’s a really nice size and shape. Though originally I requested outdoor furniture on Freecycle, and just wanted a “temporary” table so I at least had one until I could get a nice one, I wound up with one I can consider “nice” and keep a long time.

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    p>Plus, the woman who had it, brought her husband to help deliver it and turns out he was my home inspector. Heh. So we caught up on what we’ve done with the house since we bought it about a year ago.

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    p>But no, I don’t really buy a lot of stuff these days, especially big ticket items. Yeah, right! Money doesn’t grow on trees!

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    p>I did buy some cheap landscape fabric and some deck screws so I could complete a couple yard projects, does that count? (And these were two separate trips to the hardware store, grrr.)

  11. My wife needed a new suit. We found one at the Natick Collection. Got an extra 25% off at the checkout, in addition to no sales tax.

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    p>Not quite as busy at that mall as I expected, but a friend who works in a store there said it had been quite busy on Saturday.

    • My wife needed a new suit. We found one at the Natick Collection. Got an extra 25% off at the checkout, in addition to no sales tax.

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      p>How clever.  “honey, buy me clothes, there’s no sales tax today” (or any other day on clothing).  

      • Source

        B. Threshold. When the sales price of any single item is greater than $2,500, sales or use tax is due on the entire price charged for the item. The sales price is not reduced by the threshold amount. For example, if an item is sold for $3,000, the entire sales price of the item is taxable, not just the amount that exceeds $2,500.

        Exception: Under G.L. c. 64H, § 6(k) there is no sales tax on any article of clothing unless the sales price exceeds $175; in that case, only the increment over $175 is subject to tax. If, on the sales tax holiday, the price of an article of clothing exceeds the threshold, the first $175 may be deducted from the amount subject to tax. The $2,500 threshold amount is not increased by $175.

        Examples:

        A customer buys a suit on the sales tax holiday for $600. No tax is due.

        A customer buys a wedding dress on the sales tax holiday for $2,550. Tax is due on $2,375 ($2,550 – $175).

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