Patrick: Don't expect Mass. sales tax holiday

Gov. Deval Patrick signed a 25-percent hike in the state's sales tax into law on Monday, and it will take effect on Aug. 1.

That's two weeks before the Legislature has in recent years granted a weekend reprieve from the state's 5-percent sales tax. The move has been an effort to spur business amid the summer doldrums.

But Patrick says "that would be a very difficult thing" to repeat in a budget year that has already seen sharp program cuts, layoffs and an increase in the sales tax to 6.25 percent.

The state estimates it lost about $14.9 million in tax receipts during the two-day holiday last Aug. 16 and 17. The year before, it pegged the loss at $15.9 million.