Massachusetts residents—take heed: There will be no tax free weekend this year. The weekend in August has benefited both consumers and businesses for the past twelve years, but legislators voted down on the weekend for this summer.

Why is the weekend canceled?

Tax collections fell short of fiscal 2016 projections this year, and lawmakers lowered their expectations for fiscal year 2017 by $750 million. It didn’t seem smart or reasonable to implement the holiday this year given these facts.