Jobs & The Economy
ALL JOBS & THE ECONOMY REPORTS
Debunking the Five Major Myths About Outmigration
Recently, multiple news articles, op-eds, and think tank reports have asserted that Massachusetts is suffering an exodus of households, particularly high-income households, fleeing to states with lower taxes. These claims about income migration are both overblown and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the available data.
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Massachusetts Cash Assistance – A MassBudget Data Droplet
The cash assistance program was created to be a reliable back-up for the lowest-income families; today the program reaches only a small share of families in need. Cash assistance (Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children or TAFDC) provides a small monthly cash grant to families with children or to pregnant people only if they have little or no income. The amount of this grant is not enough to provide economic stability or help a family get back on its feet during hard times. Nor can this grant come even close to covering the costs of rent, diapers, school supplies, ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Executive Summary
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts Executive Summary Read the full report here. PART 1: THE PROMISED DESTINATION. We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts
We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have made long-standing racial and economic inequities worse.
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The Fair Share Amendment Helps Small Businesses: Public Investment, S-Corporations, and Million-Dollar Incomes in MA
All businesses in the Commonwealth depend on investment in public programs and infrastructure that ensure a well-educated workforce and reliable, far-reaching transportation networks. These public systems may be especially important for smaller businesses, which can’t create their own distribution networks, shuttle services, training programs and childcare centers. In November 2022, Massachusetts will vote on the Fair Share Amendment, a ballot question that would generate over $2 billion each year to support education and transportation in the Commonwealth.1 It provides these resources through an additional 4 percent tax on the portion of personal income exceeding $1 million per year. The Fair ...
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Three Progressive Tax Policies to Help Small Businesses in Massachusetts
Our Commonwealth celebrates small businesses as a way for ordinary working people to build wealth and pursue a productive life more independent from the large corporations that dominate our economy and society. Proposals for corporate tax cuts often claim their aim is to help small businesses, even when most of the benefit would go to large corporations. For instance, after decades of paying contribution rates to the Commonwealth’s unemployment trust fund that were below federal standards, many big business groups have lobbied to use public funds to relieve this debt in the name of “helping small business.” Many small businesses, ...
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Fim da Desvantagem Fiscal Contra o Trabalhador Imigrante
Os imigrantes de Massachusetts sofreram riscos desproporcionais trabalhando na linha de frente durante a pandemia. No entanto, milhares deles e suas famílias que trabalham e pagam impostos estão impedidos de receber um benefício importante por meio do Crédito Fiscal por Remuneração Recebida (EITC), porque não são elegíveis para receber um Número da Previdência Social (Social Security Number). Se o Estado de Massachusetts estendesse seu EITC para pessoas que pagam impostos com um Número de Identificação de Contribuinte Individual (ITIN), cerca de 13.200 famílias adicionais se inscreveriam e se beneficiariam do crédito. Para o orçamento do Estado de Massachusetts, o custo ...
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Ending the Tax Penalty Against Working Immigrants
Immigrants in Massachusetts have shouldered an outsized risk as frontline workers during the pandemic. Yet thousands of them and their families who work and pay taxes are prevented from receiving important support through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) because they are ineligible for a Social Security Number. If the Commonwealth extended its EITC to people who pay taxes with an Income Tax Identification Number (ITIN), an estimated additional 13,200 households would apply for and benefit from the credit. For the Massachusetts state budget, the cost of extending the credit would be about $9.3 million. The law requires all wage ...
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结束针对工薪阶层新移民的税收处罚
在疫情期间，马萨诸塞州的新移民作为一线工人承担了巨大的风险。 然而，由于他们没有资格获得社会安全号码，数千名正在工作并纳税的人及其家庭因此而无法获得收入所得税抵免（EITC）的政府支持。 如果麻州政府 ...
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Ending the Tax Penalty Against Working Immigrants: MA Should Follow Other States Extending EITC to Immigrant Tax Filers
Who are ITIN filers? Immigrants in Massachusetts have shouldered an outsized risk as frontline workers during the pandemic. Yet thousands of immigrants and their families who work and pay taxes are prevented from receiving important support through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) because they are ineligible for a Social Security Number. The law requires all wage earners to pay taxes, regardless of immigration status. The Internal Revenue Service provides immigrants who are ineligible for a Social Security Number with an Income Tax Identification Number (ITIN) so they can comply with tax laws.1 Immigrants paying taxes with an ITIN are ...
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