Taxes
ALL TAXES REPORTS
One year into the Affordable Homes Act: What Has It Accomplished and What Else Can Be Done?
The Affordable Homes Act (AHA), a five-year bond bill signed in August 2024, authorized a wide range of capital housing investments through bond spending. Bond authorizations are not the same as budgetary investments: as with most bond bills, the bond authorizations in the AHA will likely not be fully budgeted during their five-year term of Fiscal Years (FYs) 2025 to 2029.
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Testimony in support of An Act relative to the repeal of the sales tax exemption for aircraft and An Act to repeal the sales tax exemption for aircraft
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on behalf of the Massachusetts Budget andPolicy Center (MassBudget) in support of H.3123/S.1923: An Act relative to the repeal of the sales tax exemption for aircraft/An Act to repeal the sales tax exemption for aircraft. The bills under your consideration would end the current sales tax subsidy for private jets and other aircrafts. We urge the Committee to look critically at why the Commonwealth would take special pains to subsidize private jets and helicopters.
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Protect Massachusetts’s Fiscal Stability: Which OB3 Tax Changes to Opt Out of and Why
Unfortunately, changes to the federal corporate tax code included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OB3) will make our state fiscal situation worse. Many of these changes will enter our state tax code automatically, costing the Commonwealth hundreds of millions of dollars in lost corporate tax revenue unless state lawmakers opt out of these provisions. Detaching the state’s tax code from specific provisions in the federal code is a common practice known as “decoupling.”
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Testimony in support of An Act establishing a Massachusetts Baby Bonds Program
Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in support of H.48, An Act Establishing a Massachusetts Baby Bonds Program. Baby Bonds programs are an effective way to close the racial wealth gap and expand economic opportunity for all Massachusetts residents. We also support H.1158/S.737, An Act to promote economic mobility through matched savings, which would help families to improve their financial stability.
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Testimony in support of An Act supporting families through enhanced tax credits, and An Act to reduce poverty by expanding the EITC and the child and family tax credit
MassBudget urges the Joint Committee on Revenue to report H.3073 and S.1957 and S.1975 out favorably. Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in support of H.3073 and S.1957, An Act supporting families through enhanced tax credits and S.1975, An Act to reduce poverty by expanding the EITC and the child and family tax credit, which will reduce the financial burden on low-income families and make tax credits accessible to all income-eligible workers and families.
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“Under Trump, money is about to get tight — and Massachusetts isn’t ready” – Boston Globe
By Larry Edelman Globe Columnist, Updated October 17, 2025 “What began earlier this year with the Trump administration’s cuts to research funding has escalated into a broader fiscal squeeze of tax changes and federal spending reductions that could cost Massachusetts roughly $3.7 billion over three years, according to state estimates. The clouds are darkening over Beacon Hill at the same time that local businesses have slowed hiring in reaction to tariffs and what Susan M. Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, this week called a “highly uncertain environment.” Yes, we’re in for some nasty weather — weaker economic growth, ...
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“Beacon Hill urged to ‘opt out’ of federal mandates” – Haverhill Gazette
By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter, Oct 16, 2025 “A left-leaning policy group is urging the Healey administration and state lawmakers to “opt out” of several new federal laws enacted as part of President Donald Trump’s tax cut and policy bill, to help offset the looming fiscal hit to the state’s coffers. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center says corporate tax changes tucked into Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act “pose a significant threat” to the state budget and that Beacon Hill must “proactively protect its own fiscal stability” by opting out of five “costly and regressive corporate tax ...
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“Businesses, unions wage war on Beacon Hill over proposal to raise taxes on offshore corporate income” – Boston Globe
By Jon Chesto Globe Staff, Updated October 13, 2025 “Are state lawmakers feeling GILTI right now? The people who brought us the Fair Share Amendment — aka the millionaires tax — are counting on it. The union-backed Raise Up Massachusetts coalition packed the State House’s largest hearing room on Oct. 3 with around 200 supporters. Their goal: persuading the Legislature’s revenue committee to endorse a huge increase in the amount of offshore corporate income that’s subject to the state corporate tax. I’ve never seen a crowd like this show up for the truly arcane topic of taxing “global intangible low-tax ...
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“Policy group urges state to decouple from federal tax changes” – State House News Service
By Colin Young, October 9, 2025 “While lawmakers grapple with a loss of anticipated state revenue as a result of federal tax code changes, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a policy research and advocacy organization, called Thursday for the Legislature to respond quickly to the “significant threat to the stability of the state budget” by cutting a handful of the ties to the state tax regime. Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder told budget managers on Sept. 30 that the federal changes are expected to reduce state tax collections by more than $650 million in fiscal year 2026, which began July 1. A ...
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“Is Massachusetts’ Estate Tax Driving Away Wealthy Residents?” – Boston Magazine
By Jon Keller· 10/9/2025 “You don’t have to be Uncle Pennybags to get whacked. The estate tax is so brutal that some moneyed locals would rather die almost anywhere else—and their exodus will make it worse for everyone. “You can make it! Make it in Massachusetts!” For many Massholes over age 60, this peppy, ubiquitous 1980s promotional jingle created by the state is an earworm that just won’t die…” MassBudget Reference: “Is it enough to send more people heading for the exits in hopes of keeping more of their hard-earned dough in the family? While the pro-tax Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center noted in ...
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