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It’s titled “An Act To Improve The Commonwealth’s Competitiveness, Affordability And Equity,” but one veteran tax policy analyst says the Senate tax relief bill up for a vote Thursday “does less to improve competitiveness” than proposals from the House and Gov. Maura Healey.

A new analysis by Pioneer Institute senior fellow Eileen McAnneny lists only one measure in the lengthy bill (S.2397) targeting competitiveness – a plan to exempt estates valued under $2 million from the estate tax and establish a uniform credit of $99,600 for all estates subject to the estate tax.

Without the short-term capital gains tax rate reduction favored by Healey and the House, the Senate tax package “offers little in the way of tax relief for high-income earners to help offset the effects of the income surtax,” wrote McAnneny, referring to the new tax on household income above $1 million a year.

The Senate bill extends relief to low- and moderate-income taxpayers through a “plethora of credits to offset the high cost of living, particularly as it relates to housing and transportation,” she wrote, but lacks other provisions to stem the out-migration of high-income earners from Massachusetts, a trend that she said has “accelerated” based on recent IRS data.

McAnneny sees the increase in refundable tax credits and expansion of deductions for those meeting income eligibility requirements as another move toward shifting more of the overall tax burden onto high-income earners.

“In what could be a foreshadowing of future tax changes to expand such redistributive policies, the [Senate Ways and Means Committee] bill requires the Executive Office for Administration and Finance to conduct a study on advancing payments of the child and dependent tax credit to those that qualify,” wrote McAnneny, the former president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The Senate bill emerged from the Senate Ways and Means Committee without the short-term capital gains cut included, and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr has an amendment to add it to the bill. Amendment supporters could try to pull Senate Democrats to their side by pointing to support for the measure from Healey and House Democrats. Tarr was not available this week to discuss his amendment.

Senate Republicans are typically united on tax policy amendments, but after losses in recent years they hold only three of the Senate’s 40 seats.

Reducing the capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to 5 percent on assets held for less than one year, a policy change that critics have mocked as helping day traders, is a new step for the House. Asked about what changed to get him on board with the idea, House Speaker Ron Mariano in April said “the economy, for one.”

Mariano said Massachusetts has one of the highest short-term capital gains tax rates in the country.

“This whole competitiveness issue is real as we face challenges from states like North Carolina, with some of the bio stuff and as we compete on wind,” Mariano said. “Capital gains is an important factor to investors, and we want to attract investment. We want to attract folks that want to be here and are comfortable with the way we tax. And so we felt it was time.”

Asked about leaving out the short-term capital gains tax cut, Ways and Means Chair Sen. Michael Rodrigues said last week, “We focused our competitiveness assistance on individuals and working families, citizens of the commonwealth, not necessarily corporations.”

According to the Healey administration, the short-term capital gains tax change would provide relief for more than 150,000 taxpayers.

In March, Healey said that Massachusetts, Wisconsin and South Carolina are the only states that tax short-term capital gains at a higher rate than long-term capital gains, and proposed the policy change among a suite of measures intended to keep people in Massachusetts.

According to U.S. Census estimates reported by UMass’ Donahue Institute, 57,292 Bay Staters left Massachusetts to move to other U.S. states between July 2021 and July 2022, and the state’s population decreased by 45,194 people the year before.

“I don’t want to see people going to Texas or to – I mean, Austin’s cool, but whatever – or to Florida, you know, North Carolina. But this is the dynamic right now,” Healey said in March.

The Senate plans to gavel in at 11 a.m. Thursday to take up its tax relief bill, which has drawn 74 amendments.

Former MTF Head: Senate Bill Whiffs on Competitiveness

by State House News Service time to read: 3 min
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