ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Alan Belinfante, left, and Howie Freedman, owners of Beach Sales in Revere, stand in one of their showrooms.
BY DILLON DURST
The tax holiday is taking a holiday this year.
Bay State consumers won’t get a two-day break from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax next month for the first time in seven years.
As the state faces a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the budget due to lower-than-expected tax collections, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Gov. Charlie Baker agreed that the state can’t afford to lose an estimated $26 million as a result of the suspended sales tax.
But local store owners are lined up against the decision.
Alan Belinfante, owner of Beach Sales in Revere, said he’s disappointed in the decision to nix the unofficial holiday.
“Most politicians and officials never had real jobs,” he said. “They’re career politicians. They don’t understand what it means to small businesses.”
Belinfante said the state will lose revenue by cancelling the tax break, and buyers will take their business north.
“I think they’re going to get a big thank you from New Hampshire,” he said.
The Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire does not have a sales tax.
Despite the decision by lawmakers, Belinfante said his store will offer a tax-free weekend to customers on Aug. 13-14.
John Chakalis, owner of North Shore Furniture in Lynn, said his store typically does “two weeks worth of business in two days” during the tax break weekend.
“We’re at a competitive disadvantage,” he said.
The tax-free holiday gives Massachusetts residents an incentive to buy in-state, and increases sales during an otherwise slow summer season, he said.
“Sales go down a couple of weeks before,” Chakalis said of the holiday. “But it definitely spurs sales.”
Chakalis said he’s held an anniversary sale, in which the store pays the tax, every year in July since he opened shop in 1998.
Ruben Espitia, owner of Alto Decor, a contemporary furniture store in Saugus, said he’s also considering holding his own tax-free weekend next month. But he acknowledged it would be hard to promote.
Espitia, who’s owned the store for a decade, said he’s always counted on the holiday weekend for an extra boost of income.
“It hurts,” he said. “I have a lot of bills to pay.”
Dillon Durst can be reached at [email protected].