“We have over $10 million in business at stake from those other states,” he said. “There will continue to be a small price advantage,” he predicted, but not the margins that have consistently brought traffic over the state line to his stores in Sturbridge, Attleboro and Swansea. Cimini said, the lack of a sales tax has helped him attract a lot of business from Connecticut and Rhode Island, where sales taxes have long been applied to alcohol. He said he thinks the migration of sales from the northern part of the state will be larger than his counterpart in New Hampshire anticipates.Īt the same time, Mr. Michael Cimini, president of Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge, said many drinkers also smoke and will likely stock up on alcohol if they cross the border for cigarettes. Correia said, noting even with the new addition this month of a New Hampshire tax on cigarettes, cartons still cost about $22 less than they do in Massachusetts. Tobacco sales bring a lot of interstate commerce to his store, Mr. It'll be a good bonanza for a couple of weeks, and hopefully I keep some of it. “After that they're going to stay in Massachusetts.
They're going to come up to New Hampshire,” Mr. “What's going to happen is the first two or three weeks, people in Massachusetts are going to be irate. He predicts the impact will be like when a new restaurant opens in town and there's a brief drop for existing businesses as folks check out the newest option. He has been following the sales tax issue in Massachusetts, but does not predict a lasting uptick in business on his side of the state line come Aug. Joe Correia owns the building, though the state runs the liquor store and pays him rent. If you drink much at all, to replenish your cabinet it becomes worthwhile.”
“I have several business trips to take now and then, and when we're across the line, we always purchase here. “We come up here fairly regularly,” said Victor Russo of Deerfield, adding that the discounts at the state-run liquor store were tough to beat. On a recent weekday afternoon, most of the cars in the parking lot had Massachusetts plates. On Route 13 in Brookline, N.H., less than a mile from the Townsend line, is a large commercial building that houses the New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet, Route 13 Stateline Convenient Mart and Tobacco Haven. “If I lose 10 percent of my business, I'm going to have to make it up somewhere.” Gomes, who collected 600 signatures from customers opposed to the tax increase. “I just hope my customers will be loyal,” said Mr. Jacob Gomes, who owns Gomes Liquors at 58 Ashby State Road, Fitchburg, said he's concerned about the impact of the higher prices when his store is 10 miles from the New Hampshire line. “It really puts an undue burden on customers,” Mr. Now the sales tax will be on top of that. Pompei said, while a $10 bottle of wine includes $3.50 in taxes. Shoppers picking up a $24 case of beer already pay $10 in excise taxes, Mr. Pompei said the state already charges excise taxes that are built into the posted prices on the shelves. “It's a tax upon a tax,” said Chris Pompei, whose family has run Wyman's Liquors, with two stores in Leominster and one in Fitchburg, for 40 years. They also note that New Hampshire charges more in excise taxes on beer than Massachusetts, so the disparity in prices caused by the sales tax will not be as high.īut the merchants say Massachusetts is filling its coffers at their expense, and unfairly. Proponents argue that applying the state's new 6.25 percent sales tax to alcohol will bring in nearly $80 million for substance abuse programs. In the north, merchants fear the new taxes will drive business to sales tax-free New Hampshire, while stores on the southern edge of the state will lose some of the competitive advantage they have enjoyed over Connecticut and Rhode Island. 1, the state's recently raised 6.25 percent sales tax will apply to alcoholic beverages, a cause for concern for sellers on the state's northern and southern borders. It's almost closing time for the state's long-standing exemption on sales taxes for alcohol.Ĭome Aug.
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