Retailers Group to Propose Ballot Questions on Sales Tax 

BOSTON (AP) — A retailers group wants Massachusetts voters to decide if the state should have a lower sales tax and a permanent summer sales tax holiday.

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts announced Tuesday it would file several versions of a proposed 2018 ballot question by a Wednesday deadline for initiative petitions.

The organization is concerned with the impact that online shopping — much of it tax free — is having on traditional brick and mortar businesses. It has also expressed frustration with lawmakers for not voting on an August sales tax holiday for a second consecutive year.

The four proposed questions being submitted call for lowering the sales tax from 6.25 percent to either 5 percent or 4.5 percent. Two of the four questions would also establish a permanent sales tax holiday.