Massachusetts Democratic Congressional Delegation Must Put Aside Partisan Politics to Prevent Tax Hikes on Working Families
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance joined a group of New England based public policy organizations at a virtual press conference as they pressed the New England Congressional delegation to ensure that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) should not be allowed to lapse and hike taxes on families across the region. The organizations which spoke at today’s virtual press conference were Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, Maine Policy Institute, Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and the Yankee Institute.
Massachusetts taxpayers will be hit with a significant tax hike if the tax cuts expire. According to research by Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the TCJA’s expiration would cause the average Massachusetts family’s federal tax bill to increase by $4,656. Income tax rate hikes will account for $2,108 of the increase. AFP predicts that businesses will be negatively impacted and the economy will slow. There are approximately 47,949 traditional C-corporations and 118,630 pass- through entities in Massachusetts. Around 1.4 million people are employed at these types of companies and about 1.2 million of those workers live in Massachusetts. If some of the provisions of the bill expire, Massachusetts is estimated to lose around 28,887 jobs. Overall, if the tax cuts are not renewed and it results in tax hikes, the average Massachusetts business will see its taxes increase by $2,031.
“Federal and state taxes are already high and eating away at the paychecks of Massachusetts workers. Massachusetts is already a high-cost state, and the inflation of the last four years really shrunk a lot of workers’ paychecks. Adding a massive tax hike by not renewing an important tax cut will only hurt workers, hurt small businesses, investment, and economic growth. It would also make us the highest taxed New England state,” stated Paul Diego Craney, executive director of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“As our friends at Citizens for Limited Taxation used to say, every tax cut is a pay raise and Massachusetts Members of Congress have an opportunity to ensure Massachusetts taxpayers get to keep their pay raises. This decision is completely on them, and everyone will be watching to see if they put partisan politics ahead of the people of Massachusetts,” concluded Craney.