On Tax Day – Taxpayers Are Reminded of the Airbnb Tax

Taxpayers Will Be Hit With a New Tax This Summer, Passed Without Roll Call Vote

Boston – Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance (MassFiscal) released the following statement today on April 15, Tax Day. As thousands of individuals across the Commonwealth are forced to cut checks to the government, it’s important to be mindful of tax hikes that may still be coming down the pipeline from our legislative leaders in the months to come.
 
The Governor’s budget was proposed in February, and it included a sprinkling of new and higher taxes including a new tax on opioids as well as applying the cigarette tax to vaping products. The Governor proposed increasing the real estate excise tax (stamp tax), and MassFiscal advocacy to communicate with thousands of constituents across the state to successfully stop it. While these seemed like low hanging fruit for the House to include in their budget, they decided to play coy. Speaker Bob DeLeo stated that“further action” wouldn’t be taken on taxes until later in the year.

When I first read this editorial yesterday morning, I thought it was a late April fool’s joke! 

We’ve had a lot of great wins over the past several months, and it seems as though it’s brought out some angst from big government politicians and their allies. 

Tuesday’s Boston Globe ran an extraordinarily uninformed editorial attacking our organization. Major parts of this piece are inaccurate and untrue, both in the description of our position and on the facts pertaining to state campaign finance law. The editorial board never even bothered to contact our organization for clarification or with any questions when writing their opinion piece. 

As you know, MassFiscal has ardently supported many of the reforms the Baker administration has proposed over the years. However, the Governor’s current budget proposal included a 50% increase to the real estate excise tax—to fund climate change solutions—MassFiscal was quick to object. Our 501(c)3 sister organization, the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, even polled residents and found taxpayers were not supportive of this tax.

Since the poll was conducted, the legislature has named new chairs of the important Ways and Means Committee. This committee is tasked with adopting and advancing tax policy, including the Governor’s tax increase proposal. Now that the pieces are finally set, MassFiscal is pleased to announce that mailboxes across our state have started to fill up with our first educational mailer of 2019.  In all, tens of thousands of households across the Commonwealth are receiving our first mailer and many more are receiving its digital counterpart on their computers and phones.