TWO OF THE state’s leading budget analysts are split on whether Gov. Maura Healey’s tax reform package will make the state more competitive in retaining and attracting wealthy residents. On The Codcast, Doug Howgate, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said passage of the millionaire tax in November has the potential to drive wealthier […]
Tax Credits
Massachusetts’ many tax credits and attempts at bringing them to light.
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Dems feel Baker knew of looming tax-break blockbuster
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS THEIR CAREFULLY crafted plans for tax relief and massive spending outlays began to slip away with last Thursday’s stunning news about a 1986 tax law, frustrated Democrats on Beacon Hill went into spin mode. First, late Friday afternoon, Rep. Christine Barber of Somerville took to the House floor to suggest […]
Posted inUncategorized
Tax tutorial by Sen. Adam Hinds
THE STATE IS FLUSH with cash right now, but Sen. Adam Hinds of Pittsfield said he doesn’t think that will stop the Legislature this week from passing and sending along to voters a constitutional amendment placing a 4 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million. Hinds, a leader on Beacon Hill on tax and revenue […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Tax breaks not on House budget chief’s radar
THE HOUSE’S TOP budget official said his spending plan for fiscal 2022 doesn’t address outdated or ineffective tax breaks highlighted in a recent commission report and he doesn’t plan to push for separate legislation to deal with them. Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, served on the […]
Posted inOpinion
Accountability needed for state tax breaks
ACCOUNTABILITY IS A PRINCIPLE embedded in the process of government budget-making. The Governor proposes a spending plan and the Legislature examines it, determines how to meet the needs of the public, and how much revenue is needed to do it. Those programs then can be audited by the state auditor. There is another spending program, […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t undercut brownfields tax credit
WHEN AN ENVIRONMENTAL remediation program has thrived for a quarter-century — converting abandoned industrial sites into engines of job creation that address the ravages of environmental contamination — turning our backs on that progress seems unwise. Nevertheless, the state is on the precipice of making an unfortunate error in ending decades of success under the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Film tax credit backers say they have the votes
SUPPORTERS OF THE state’s film tax credit, which came under fire this week from a commission examining Massachusetts tax breaks, say they have the votes to pass legislation that would make the tax credit permanent. The credit, which under current law is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2023, provides a tax credit equal to […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Film tax credit sunset looms
THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee sounds as if he is in no hurry to eliminate the sunset provision contained in the state’s film tax credit law. The tax credit, launched in 2006 and scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2022, has been the focus of a number of attempts to eliminate […]
Posted inOpinion
EF grows on backs of cheap labor
A CAMBRIDGE COMPANY, Education First, is a big winner in the race for state business tax credits. The privately owned Swedish company now occupies two buildings (and, thanks to its tax credit, will soon occupy three) in the city’s redeveloped NorthPoint area abutting Charlestown and East Somerville. Of the $15 million in economic development incentive […]
Posted inEconomy
Netflix, Showtime to film series in Mass.
A PANEL DISCUSSION exploring the benefits of the state’s film tax credit turned into a press conference of sorts on Tuesday when a couple of the panelists disclosed new series coming to shoot in Massachusetts. Gary Crossen, the general manager of New England Studios in Devens, said Netflix will be filming a series at his […]