State Corporate Tax Going Down in January
The editorial "Mass. Should Consider Tax Break for Businesses" (Sept. 26, 2011) neglected to point out that the commonwealth is almost at the end of a three-year phase-down of the corporate income tax rate approved by the Legislature and governor. The current corporate rate of 8.25 percent will drop to 8 percent effective Jan. 1, 2012. When this phase-down began on Jan. 1, 2010, the rate dropped from 9.5 percent to 8.75 percent, and it went down again to the current 8.25 percent effective Jan. 1, 2011. The estimated value of these tax reductions for businesses exceed $400 million.
As for a cut in the personal income tax rate, no one will have to "push" for it. Current law states that if inflation-adjusted revenues exceed 2.5 percent of the previous fiscal year's revenues, and if that inflation-adjusted revenue growth holds steady in the succeeding five months (so we will know for sure in December), the personal income tax rate will drop from 5.3 percent to 5.25 percent effective Jan. 1, 2012. That cut would save taxpayers about $114 million over the course of a full fiscal year.
Robert R. Bliss
Communications Director
Massachusetts Department of Revenue
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments