Taxes

As reported by the Boston Globe, the price of beer, wine, and liquor in Massachusetts would increase, but unpopular restrictions on the sale of alcohol would go away, under a radical proposed overhaul of the state’s byzantine booze laws that’s expected to be unveiled by a government-appointed task force Thursday. The proposals include increasing the […]

According to a report in The Boston Globe, two city councilors in Boston have initiated a process that could potentially lead to the implementation of a significant new citywide tax on alcohol sales. The objective of this proposed tax is to generate substantial revenue that would be exclusively allocated to substance abuse prevention and treatment […]

Connecticut residents have a new reason to cross state lines in to Massachusetts. First it was cheaper gas, now it is cheaper liquor —- Connecticut has raised its liquor tax by 20% effective July 1. Employees at liquor stores like Phipps in Feeding Hills, Mass, which is near the state line, say that they have […]

Foxboro has become the latest community to add a 0.75 percent local option meals tax on top of the state’s 6.25 percent tax. After about 90 minutes of debate this week, annual town meeting voted 318 in favor of the tax, 221 opposed. The tax will add 75 cents to a $100 tab for food […]

Some area restaurant owners say legislation supported by 20 state senators and representatives that would eliminate the state’s 6.25 percent meals tax on food and alcohol for a week in March would give local restaurants much-needed attention, reports the Worcester Telegram. Multiple snowstorms have kept people stuck inside, and the proposed meals tax holiday March […]

In a close vote, Massachusetts voters decided Tuesday to repeal the 6.25 percent tax on alcohol and restore the sales tax exemption liquor enjoyed until last year. Package store owners near the New Hampshire border argued that the tax had resulted in the loss of business to the tax-free Granite State. Many in the liquor […]

I tend to agree with the Boston Globe editorial pages and columnist Derrick Jackson — a “NO” vote on Question One in Nov. 2 is prudent, thereby keeping the 6.25 tax on alcoholic beverages. According to the state Department of Revenue, the tax raised $97 million in fiscal year 2010. It is projected to rise […]

I liked this story out of North Andover, where the Wine Connextion, a new store run by brother-sister duo Tina and Sam Messina, has started a campaign to detract people from making the voyage to New Hampshire for alcohol, hoping to save money by avoiding Massachusetts’ sales tax. “We just wanted to make people aware […]

As part of the sales tax holiday weekend of August 14-15, there is no sales tax on beer, wine, or hard liquor. Many non-business retail items costing $2,500 or less are also exempt from the sales tax, but some items –motor vehicles, motorboats, meals, telecommunications services, gas, steam, electricity, tobacco products, and anything else costing […]

Massachusetts voters will decide this November the fate of ballot questions that would repeal last year’s new tax on retail alcohol sales, reduce the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, and repeal the state’s affordable housing law. Proponents of the measures submitted more than the 11,099 required signatures prior to a deadline […]

Controversial column by Renee Loth today in the Boston Globe on the benefits of keeping the alcohol tax, which liquor retailers and distributors in Massachusetts wish to see repealed, with a return to the prior exempt status for alcohol. Loth reports on the hundreds of substance abuse counseling, educational, and treatment programs supported by the […]