Boring details of the MA local meals tax

[Jimmy]

I recently realized that I didn't know exactly how much the
Massachusetts meals tax was any more. Here's what I found at the
state DOR website.

The state meals tax rate is 6.25%, with a local option to raise it to
7%. The following cities and towns voted for the local increase. The
increase was effective on 10/1/09, except for towns with an asterisk*
where it will take effect on 1/1/10.

Amherst, Andover*, Auburn, Bedford, Blandford, Boston, Brookline,
Cambridge, Chelmsford, Chicopee, Dartmouth, Deerfield, Easton*,
Everett, Franklin, Gill*, Hadley, Medford, Melrose, Nantucket*, North
Attleborough*, North Reading*, Northampton, Palmer, Plainville,
Raynham, Rehoboth*, Saugus, Somerville, Southbridge, Springfield,
Sturbridge*, Sunderland, Taunton, Tyngsborough, West Springfield,
Winthrop, and Worcester.

The DOR also provided estimates of local restaurant (and hotel) tax
revenue for every town, except towns with 1 or 2 restaurants to
protect their privacy. An Excel spreadsheet is online at
http://www.mass.gov/Ador/docs/dls/mdmstuf/LocalOptions/MealsandRooms.xls
. You can divide the amounts by .0075 to get the actual restaurant
revenues per town.

The towns with the top 5 revenues are Boston, Cambridge, Worcester,
Springfield, and Newton. Devens, Montgomery, and Mount Washington are
the only towns with no restaurants. (Devens isn't actually a
municipality, but for some reason it's included as town number 352 in
the spreadsheet.)

Jimmy

[John F. Carr]

In article <a8d1ae93-a88e-4719...@x25g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,

Jimmy <JimmyG...@mailinator.com> wrote:
>I recently realized that I didn't know exactly how much the
>Massachusetts meals tax was any more. Here's what I found at the
>state DOR website.
>
>The state meals tax rate is 6.25%, with a local option to raise it to
>7%. The following cities and towns voted for the local increase. The
>increase was effective on 10/1/09, except for towns with an asterisk*
>where it will take effect on 1/1/10.
>
>Amherst, Andover*, Auburn, Bedford, Blandford, Boston, Brookline,
>Cambridge, Chelmsford, Chicopee, Dartmouth, Deerfield, Easton*,
>Everett, Franklin, Gill*, Hadley, Medford, Melrose, Nantucket*, North
>Attleborough*, North Reading*, Northampton, Palmer, Plainville,
>Raynham, Rehoboth*, Saugus, Somerville, Southbridge, Springfield,
>Sturbridge*, Sunderland, Taunton, Tyngsborough, West Springfield,
>Winthrop, and Worcester.

Blandford's figure on the DOR spreadsheet, $1,517, must be low.
The town has a Turnpike rest area.

Have Charlton and Lee had town meetings since the new law?

--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)