State Legislators Approve Sales Tax Holiday for Aug. 10-11

Wednesday the State Senate approved a bill that will allow residents to shop for many items tax-free on Aug. 10 and 11 according to MassLive.

This year will mark then ninth year Massachusetts residents will be able to shop without having to pay the state sales tax of 6.25 percent.

According to a document on the Department of Revenue's website last year residents saved more than $23 million during tax-free weekend.

With just two weeks to go before the proposed date not all retailers were sure it was going to get approved. Some businesses took the idea into their own hands and created special discounted sales.

Some items are not within the bounds of the tax exemption though, including any single item sold for more than $2,500. Also products such as tobacco, gasoline, meals and utilities will not be sold tax-free.

The bill still needs to be signed by Gov. Deval Patrick, but according to Boston.com he is expected to approve it.

The original text of this year's tax holiday bill can be found on the state legislature's website.