Tax policy is at the forefront of the legislative and fiscal agenda in 2023 as the state implements the income surtax, reassesses a tax package that garnered bipartisan support last year, and welcomes a new gubernatorial administration that has made tax relief a major policy priority. After…

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate said his preference would be for the Legislature to focus more on tax relief than altering Chapter 62F, although he also said MTF was “happy to look” at proposals for alteration. “The premise that when tax revenues exceed a reasonable…

Governor Healey’s Capital Authorization Bills On Thursday, January 19th, Governor Maura Healey filed the first capital bond bills of her Administration, totaling $1.4 billion. The first bill focuses on what the Administration identifies as the “immediate needs” of municipalities, and includes $987…

Chapter 62F of the Massachusetts General Laws establishes a limit on annual state tax revenue collections. The law, passed by an initiative petition in 1986, created a process by which actual tax collections are compared to an allowable tax revenue threshold, adjusted annually on the basis of wage…

Budget leaders from the House, Senate, and Administration have agreed on a $40.410 billion consensus tax revenue figure for the fiscal year 2024 budget. Budget makers expect tax revenues to grow by $642 million (1.6 percent) over estimated FY 2023 collections of $39.768 billion. Notably, the…

During discussion on how to best use those incoming funds on Tuesday, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate advocated for splitting the revenues 50/50, "half for transportation, half for education." Lawmakers have not committed to how they will divide the money between education…

The state’s 4 percent surtax on income over $1 million is now in effect.  The new tax raises critical policy questions related to its effect on long-term economic growth and its impact on other areas of the tax code.  At the same time, the surtax creates a number of fiscal and tax policy…

Doug Howgate, the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says the law mentions only two pots for the money to go in. “The most straightforward way to do that is to distribute it 50-50,” he said.

Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, testified he agrees with the overarching premise of Chapter 62F — namely that the state should be required to return excess tax revenues that far exceed projections back to constituents who paid their taxes. “I would also say it’s…

The remaining majority of the dollars would come from estimated payments. Howgate said other non-withholding revenue sources like capital gains are based on the prior year’s tax liability, pushing out the date by which a clear picture of surtax money might emerge. “You are unlikely to see much…