Tax cuts that continue to haunt Mass.
Tax cuts from the late 90s and early 2000s have kept us from investing in our children, our communities, and the future of our economy.
Tax cuts from the late 90s and early 2000s have kept us from investing in our children, our communities, and the future of our economy.
In recent days, the Governor has proposed: 1) increased funding for education; 2) fixes and improvements to our transportation system; 3) a revenue plan to pay for these initiatives. We analyze how they would affect Early Education & Care, K-12, Higher Ed., Transportation, the Sales Tax, and the Income Tax.
State and local taxes in Massachusetts are roughly in line with the national average, according to data released today by the census bureau. Massachusetts ranks 25th among all states—meaning there are 24 states with a higher level of taxation and 25 with lower rates.
On October 31 the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual update of State and Local Government Finances, providing national data for Fiscal Year 2009. The amount of state and local taxes paid in Massachusetts as a share of total personal income was 9.8 percent in FY 2009. By this measure, Massachusetts had lower taxes than 32 other states. Measuring taxes as a share of total personal income allows for a meaningful comparison among states.
This Facts At A Glance describes methodological issues regarding the comparison of tax and spending levels between different time periods or different states.
Massachusetts has an income tax rate of 5.3 percent. The income tax is the single-largest source of revenue for the state, with collections totaling $10.1 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. Forty-three states have an income tax, several with rates as high as 11 percent. Of the states with an income tax, Massachusetts is one of only seven states that do not have a higher income tax rate for those with higher incomes.
This fall, Congress will debate whether to extend tax cuts adopted over the past decade. While there appears to be general agreement among policymakers that the major middle-class tax cuts should be extended — and significant debate about whether the tax cuts that benefit only the highest-income taxpayers ought to continue — there has been less attention paid to the fate of tax provisions that are targeted at lower-income working families.
This primer provides an overview of the Commonwealth’s tax system as well as clear information and analysis of how Massachusetts compares to other states and how our state’s tax system has changed over time. Also please see individual fact sheets on the income tax, the sales tax, tax fairness, and on the “Taxachusetts” label.
In the coming weeks, the U.S. House and Senate may debate whether to extend (or make permanent) all or only some of the Bush-era income tax cuts. The Congressional debate most likely will focus on whether to extend the tax cuts that affect only the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans–those households with adjusted gross income (AGI) above $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples.
As part of a package of sales tax changes that went into effect in 2009, Massachusetts’ general sales tax rate was raised from 5 percent to 6.25 percent and alcoholic beverages were made newly subject to the general sales tax.