Massachusetts
NBC: Sales Tax Holidays Complex, Controversial, But Popular With Shoppers
July 28, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax holiday […]
CNBC: Tax-Free Shopping Ahead for These States
July 24, 2015
Research by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, however, contends that increased sales during the tax holidays “have been shown to be primarily the result of consumers’ shifting the timing of their planned purchases.” That organization estimates sales tax holidays will cost states $300 million in 2015. “A two- to three-day sales tax […]
Huffington Post: How Some States Are Trying To Fix Their Crumbling Infrastructure
July 6, 2015
Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said efforts to raise state taxes to pay for roads and bridges exploded this year. In 2013 and 2014, four states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) increased their gas taxes, while Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island indexed the gas tax to either […]
Littleton Independent: Momentum Grows for Earned Income Credit
June 19, 2015
More than one in seven Massachusetts families benefits from the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the impact is even greater in many urban communities. The current state Earned Income Tax Credit in Massachusetts is worth 15 percent of the federal credit, up to $921 for income-eligible taxpayers with three or more children. Among the states […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Automatic Income Tax Rate Cuts – Frequently Asked Questions
December 4, 2014
A thriving state economy – one that delivers broadly shared prosperity to workers, families and businesses – depends on key public investments in schools and colleges, subways and highways, public safety and more. We pay for these essential investments with our tax dollars. A series of tax cuts dating from the late 1990s and early […]
Governing: Massachusetts Rolls Back Automatic Gas Tax Hike
November 6, 2014
And Massachusetts has plenty of company. The federal gas tax of 18.4 cents has been in place since 1993. Twenty-four states haven’t touched their gas tax rates in more than a decade, according to left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. For 16 of those states, the last change was more than 20 years ago. […]
Bloomberg BNA: Will Massachusetts’ Rejection of Inflation-Adjusted Gas Tax Have Federal Implications?
November 6, 2014
States have varying gas tax rate structures, which can be boiled down to one of two general forms: a fixed-rate tax or a variable-rate tax. Flat-rate gas taxes, like those in now Massachusetts and New Hampshire, collect a certain number of cents per gallon of gas purchased. Meanwhile, variable-rate taxes are calculated one of several […]
Governing: Will Mass. Repeal Gas Tax Hike?
October 10, 2014
Matthew Gardner, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, notes that many states in recent years have gone down the same road as Massachusetts by linking fuel taxes to inflation or prices. “It’s been a very welcome trend in the last few years toward indexing the gas tax for some measure […]
Boston Globe: Tax the Roads, Not Fuel
June 2, 2014
By Jeff Jacoby, June 2, 2014 For decades, gasoline taxes have been the largest source of funds for building and fixing America’s highways. What happens if those funds dry up? Gasoline sales have been trending downward in recent years, thanks in part to more fuel-efficient cars, which travel farther and farther between fill-ups. That trend […]
Bloomberg BNA: Extras on Excise, Running out of Gas
May 30, 2014
By Rebecca Helmes, May 28, 2014 New Hampshire drivers will soon pay more per gallon in gas tax, and in return their Interstate 93 widening project will be funded, along with other highway projects. On the heels of several states’ gas tax increases in 2013, the Granite State is the first this year to enact […]
Boston Globe: Who Pays More in Taxes?
April 23, 2014
When it comes to state and local taxes, you find precisely the opposite: higher-income families pay a smaller share of their income in taxes while lower-income families pay more. It is called a regressive tax system, and you'll find it in virtually every state, including Massachusetts.
MetroWest Daily News: Ballot question could halt tax
April 7, 2014
(Original Post) By Brian Benson Daily News Staff Posted Apr. 5, 2014 @ 11:46 pm A measure lawmakers approved last year to index the gas tax to inflation is prompting debate amid an effort to repeal the provision. Lawmakers last year increased the gas tax from 21 cents per gallon to 24 cents per gallon […]
Massachusetts Tax Fairness Commission: Report
March 7, 2014
The Tax Fairness Commission was established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2013 as part of the Act Relative to Transportation Finance. The Commission was charged with analyzing a broad array of the Commonwealth’s tax laws and focused on the equity of current tax policies. The fifteen member bipartisan Commission met publicly eight times from September […]
Go Local Worcester: MA Residents Face Among Highest Transportation Costs in US
January 9, 2014
(Original Post) Thursday, January 09, 2014 Zeke Wright, GoLocalWorcester Contibutor While Massachusetts contributes a high percentage of transportation-related revenue toward roads, a new report show that road-related taxes and fees can’t keep pace with cost of upkeep in the Commonwealth. According to the data compiled by the Tax Foundation, tolls and user fees, fuel taxes, […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: After the Tech Tax Repeal- Remembering the Big Picture
September 24, 2013
The FY 2014 budget included new investments in our transportation system, in education, and in other areas. Part of the funding for these came from a “tech tax,” which is likely to be repealed without being replaced by an ongoing revenue source. This report explores some of the ways we might in the future fund […]
Daily Hampshire Gazette: Tax-free weekends are bad economic policy and send wrong message
August 14, 2013
It troubles me that we marched on to last weekend's "tax-free holiday" with so little thinking about the folly and hypocrisies of such a "gift" from the Legislature.
The Boston Globe: Tax break is no holiday for Mass.
August 12, 2013
(Original Post) By Tom Keane | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 06, 2013 THERE ARE certain things our elected officials do that make easy pickings for a columnist, and right at the top of the list is the Bay State’s annual sales tax holiday. (Make that mostly annual; we skipped 2009). As July waned, the […]
Stateline: MA Joins Sales Tax Holiday Parade
August 2, 2013
Massachusetts is the 18th state to join the back-to-school tax holiday parade this year. The legislature has authorized a tax-free weekend to begin Aug. 10.
McClatchy-Tribune: States expand sales tax holidays beyond back-to-school items
July 22, 2013
Many states with back-to-school sales tax “holidays” are expanding them to cover almost any purchase, in addition to the usual kids’ clothing, shoes, books and school supplies. As schools and students replace ink and paper with pixels, some states are expanding their holidays to cover sales taxes on low-cost computers and tablets. These electronics […]
Boston Globe: Big seller Boston Beer asks for small-brewer tax break
May 17, 2013
(Original Post) By Noah Bierman| Globe Staff May 13, 2013 WASHINGTON — It’s early to be drinking, but just after 10:30 a.m. on a weekday, Jim Koch, the founder of Samuel Adams beer, pops open a bottle of lager and regales his audience with stories. It’s no barroom banter. Koch is standing behind a […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Effects of Raising Rates and Exemptions on the State Income Tax
March 12, 2013
This Facts At A Glance updates MassBudget’s analysis of a reform option that would make changes to the way the Commonwealth taxes wage and salary income as well as investment income. The Department of Revenue (DOR) recently examined this reform option and estimated that the proposal’s combined changes would generate between $1.99 billion and $2.11 […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Examining Tax Fairness
March 12, 2013
Taxes are the primary way we pay for the things that we do together through government. These include things like police and fire protection; public education; roads, bridges and public transportation; a safety net for when people face hard times; and more. Determining how much people at different income levels pay in taxes is important […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Possible Reforms to the Governor’s Tax Plan
March 12, 2013
In his FY 2014 budget, the Governor proposes making significant new investments in education and transportation, as well as limiting cuts to other program areas. He proposes paying for these investments with a tax increase, one that would raise an estimated $1.9 billion in new, annual revenue and would do so in a progressive manner […]
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Facts At A Glance – The Income Tax: Another Reform Option
January 14, 2013
Previous MassBudget fact sheets have examined the Massachusetts personal income tax and a number of reform options (see “Facts At A Glance: The Income Tax”, available at http://www.massbudget.org/768). This Facts At A Glance examines another reform option (currently before the Legislature) that would make changes to the way the Commonwealth taxes wage and salary income […]
Campaign for Our Communities: Support Public Education and Other Vital Services!
January 14, 2013
“We need to invest in our communities and keep middle-class families working and earning! An Act to Invest in Our Communities – HB 2553 / SB 1416 – does just that. This bill takes a balanced approach to the fiscal crisis by raising revenue to maintain the services we need and value. By asking more […]
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