The Black Friday Mass Exodus

How’s that 6.25% sales tax looking now?

Massachusetts’ loss is Juliana Aquino’s gain. The 27-year-old mother of two could have done her Black Friday shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Methuen, where she lives. Instead, she made a 15-minute trek into New Hampshire, where there is no such thing as a sales tax.

“I come here all the time, even though there’s one closer,’’ Aquino said at 5 a.m. yesterday, pushing a shopping cart loaded with four flat-screen TVs. “I come up here even to buy groceries.’’

Massachusetts shoppers are fleeing the state’s rising sales tax in droves and shopping in New Hampshire. Fueled by necessity – and in some cases anger – customers said they were heading over the border to save money and score deals. Cars with Massachusetts license plates clogged the roads and lots across Salem. And through the early evening yesterday, the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem and Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua – both just a few miles over the border – reported spikes in traffic over last year, according to Laurel Sibert, a spokeswoman for Simon Malls, which runs both shopping centers.

“The New Hampshire malls have definitely benefited from the sales tax increase in Massachusetts,’’ Sibert said.

No surprises here… the reason why Black Friday is such a big hit with shoppers is because prices are lower; why can’t Beacon Hill figure this out?

Bob Bliss, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, said in an August interview with the Globe that the net revenue gains from the sales tax hike outweigh the $48 million in expected losses from sales diverted to New Hampshire, the Internet, or reduced demand. Officials at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue could not confirm projected losses in tax revenue from people going to New Hampshire yesterday. But a recent report by the department showed that Massachusetts’ tax revenues for the first half of November totaled $41 million, equal to collections over the same period last year.

So long as there is still a majority of Massachusetts residents being screwed by the increase in the sales tax, they are still happy. Thanks a lot.

Anyone who can, keep sticking it to them. Cross the border and free yourself of the overbearing tax burden that has been bestowed upon us by the same elected officials you keep voting for.

Aaron Margolis is a life long resident of the Bay State, and works at an architectural firm north of Boston. Aaron has a Master of Architecture Degree from Boston Architectural College and is currently in the process of becoming of a Registered Architect.