The Department of Revenue is still counting, but the budget watchers at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation expect that the Legislature will have a surplus of $3.6 billion when the final accounting of the fiscal year that ended last week is complete.
The speaker and Senate president made clear this week that a gas tax suspension isn’t in the cards, but people in Massachusetts will get at least some form of tax relief this summer regardless.
The good times continue to roll for Massachusetts tax collectors and for the lawmakers who remain on track to be gifted a massive election-year surplus.
The details of the House budget won’t be fully known until Wednesday, but House Speaker Ron Mariano said Monday that his chamber is not going to propose tax relief or tax breaks as part of its plan for the fiscal year 2023.
As momentum grows around the country for the suspension of state gas taxes, the state Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican-led push to pause gas tax collections through Labor Day even as Gov. Charlie Baker signaled he was warming to the idea.
Three months into the new budget cycle finds state leaders still unsure how to spend last year’s surplus, and state coffers are again brimming with tax dollars that have increased by almost 10 percent above first quarter receipts last year and are beating estimates by $323 million.
While lawmakers still haven’t decided how to allocate the fiscal 2018 surplus, Massachusetts taxpayers continue to deliver revenue to Beacon Hill at levels higher than state government leaders forecast.
The Massachusetts Senate voted 31-6 to extend the state’s lodging tax to short-term rentals offered through platforms like Airbnb, in a move senators said would generate $34.5 million in new state revenue and $25.5 million from municipal taxes.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration said it is “reviewing all options” after a disappointing April revenue report left an even deeper hole in the state’s budget.
For the first time in four years, Massachusetts taxpayers will not see the tax rate they pay on income drop come January after state revenues failed to grow sufficiently to meet the first trigger for a reduction.
Amy Pitter has seen a lot of changes in the accounting industry since she began her career 35 years ago. In 2011, she returned to the department as commissioner and it was then that she connected with the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. When a leadership position opened up, she took a shot at it. Pitter recently sat down with Banker & Tradesman to talk about challenges facing the industry and by extension, the organization.
