STATE BUDGET-WRITERS have begun planning to spend $1 billion in new revenue to fund education and transportation needs thanks to the so-called “millionaires tax” approved last year by voters. But a new report says Massachusetts could lose out on anywhere from $200 million to $600 million from the new tax on high earners unless legislators […]
Millionaire’s tax
Posted inEducation, Transportation
Millionaire’s tax opponents sue over ballot language
OPPONENTS OF THE so-called “millionaire’s tax” filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the Supreme Judicial Court to change the summary of the constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2022 ballot. Their lawsuit calls attention to what has been a controversial issue – whether the money raised from the income surtax will actually go toward […]
Posted inEconomy
Pandemic changes Fair Share debate
WHEN A COALITION of labor, clergy, and liberal organizing groups first proposed raising the tax rate on income over $1 million, the year was 2015. The income tax rate was 5.15 percent, the region was reeling from the disastrous performance of the MBTA the previous winter, there were around 15,000 people in the state earning over […]
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts’ upside-down tax system
AT A TIME when people across the state seem to agree that our Commonwealth needs additional resources for public investments, asking those with the highest incomes to contribute a similar share of their incomes in taxes as the rest of us could support major investments to boost prosperity and economic opportunity for all. Every state […]
Posted inEconomy
Sales tax boon – or not?
It’s going to cost some people a little more to make online purchases after the Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Massachusetts-based Wayfair that states can collect sales tax on purchases by residents no matter where the seller is located. For many states, that not only clears up confusion stemming from a 25-year-old decision that said […]
Posted inThe Download
Sales tax boon – or not?
It’s going to cost some people a little more to make online purchases after the Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Massachusetts-based Wayfair that states can collect sales tax on purchases by residents no matter where the seller is located. For many states, that not only clears up confusion stemming from a 25-year-old decision that said […]
Posted inEconomy
Grand bargain talks can now begin in earnest
Now that the millionaire tax is dead, state leaders can finally get down to work. The millionaire tax was a great excuse for doing nothing. As long as the question was on the ballot and its poll numbers remained high, the millionaire tax’s $2 billion-a-year haul was the answer to just about everything. Fix the […]
Posted inThe Download
Grand bargain talks can now begin in earnest
Now that the millionaire tax is dead, state leaders can finally get down to work. The millionaire tax was a great excuse for doing nothing. As long as the question was on the ballot and its poll numbers remained high, the millionaire tax’s $2 billion-a-year haul was the answer to just about everything. Fix the […]
Posted inPolitics
SJC knocks millionaires tax off November ballot
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL ruled that a proposal to raise taxes on high earners in Massachusetts cannot appear on the November ballot because it violates a constitutional provision requiring that all the elements of such a question be “related” or “mutually dependent.” The eagerly-awaiting ruling is a huge blow to public sector unions and other liberal […]
Posted inEconomy
Our wheezing democracy
WHO ARE YOU going to turn to make important decisions affecting the state? The sluggish Legislature or schizophrenic, knee-jerk electorate? Those seem to be the less-than-compelling options at this point in dealing with a set of questions that will have enormous implications for the state’s budget and initiatives we look for it to fund. Lawmakers […]