WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island lawmaker is proposing a sales tax holiday in August to keep shoppers from flooding into neighboring Massachusetts for a similar incentive.
State Rep. Joseph Solomon, a Democrat from Warwick, said he has drafted a bill to give shoppers and businesses a weekend break from Rhode Island’s 7 percent sales tax.
The tax break would be on most items that cost less than $2,500.
The holiday would happen on Aug. 6 and 7 and would be timed to fall just a week before an identical tax holiday in Massachusetts. Solomon also timed it to occur ahead of Rhode Island’s Victory Day, a state holiday on the second Monday of each August. Rhode Island is the only state to observe a holiday marking Japan’s surrender during World War II.
