Category: Phineas Baxandall

All Posts

Even Among Retirees with High Wealth, Few Will Pay the Fair Share Tax

The proposed “millionaire tax” only applies to the portion of a taxpayer’s annual taxable income over $1 million. For many retirees, much of their income ...
Read More →

A Bridge Too Far: Sagging Investment Leaves 644 Massachusetts Bridges Structurally Deficient

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation maintains a database tracking 7,880 bridges across the Commonwealth. This paper examines the condition of these bridges and the impact ...
Read More →

Four Reasons We Need Strong Estate Taxes

Explainer via Napkin Finance With Legislators debating potential changes to taxes on large estates, it’s important to remember why we have taxes on the transfer of ...
Read More →

Current Estate Tax Proposals Would Give Largest Benefits to Wealthiest Estates; Alternative Method Would Fix This Problem

The tax on inherited estates is Massachusetts’ only tax that directly reduces wealth inequality. Although the pandemic has highlighted disparities between rich and poor families, ...
Read More →

When A Surplus Is Not Extra

Sometimes a “surplus” is not really a surplus at all, and the term “tax surplus” can be particularly misleading. A tax surplus occurs when tax ...
Read More →

Options to Adjust the Estate Tax While Retaining Revenue and Progressivity

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center was asked to outline options for changes to the estate tax that would preserve revenue, maintain progressivity, and also ...
Read More →

Investing in Transportation Can Help Massachusetts

This one-page summary of a longer report outlines how Massachusetts has underinvested in its transportation infrastructure, and greater investment can improve the economy, equity, and ...
Read More →

Earth Day is a Time to Consider Better Responses to High Gas Prices: Free Public Transit and Other Ideas

Higher gas prices are causing anxiety for many and are eating away at the meager incomes of low- and moderate-income families. Politicians are promoting a ...
Read More →

The Three E’s: Greater Transportation Funding Can Improve the Economy, Equity, and Environment

New sustaining revenue is needed for Massachusetts' transportation systems, and no source of new funding is better scaled to meet the size of underinvestment than ...
Read More →

Testimony to end tax subsidies for purchasing private jets and other aircraft

To the Joint Committee on Revenue December 14, 2021 RE: Testimony in support of An Act Relevant to the Repeal of the Sales Tax Exemption ...
Read More →
Scroll to Top

Get news from Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in your inbox.