Fiscal Year 2014 Budget – Revenue

In case you missed it, today marks the first day of debate on the House Ways & Means Fiscal Year 2014 Budget.

As you may have heard, the House of Representatives recently unveiled their $33.8 billion state budget proposal. While the budget presented to the Legislature includes significantly less spending then Governor Patrick’s budget proposal, the House’s plan relies too heavily on revenue found in the recently passed transportation finance bill, and House Republicans will continue to oppose this fiscally irresponsible approach.

Today’s debate will begin with the consideration of amendments dealing with revenue. Below, you will find the revenue amendments offered by House Republicans, along with a brief description of the amendment.

Revenue

Amendment 61 - Title 5 Income Tax Credit Reform (Howitt, Steven) Adds a new outside section increasing the maximum income tax credit allowed for the repair or replacement of a septic system from $15K to $25K; increasing the annual tax credit allowances from $1.5K to $4K, and the aggregate from $6K to$10K.

Amendment 198 - An Act Relative to Expanding the Septic System Tax Credit (Barrows, Jay) Adds a new outside section to broaden the septic system tax credit to include expenses for the repair or replacement of all septic systems, not just failed ones, and also increases the time period to allow the aggregate tax credit to be applied from 5 tax years to 10.

Amendment 199 - An Act Relative to Bundled Cell Phone Taxation (Barrows, Jay) Adds a new outside section requiring that sales tax be paid only on the sale price of a cell phone, instead of the current practice of charging sales tax on the amount of the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP).

Amendment 269 - Reducing the Income Tax to 5% (Lombardo, Marc) Adds a new outside section lowering the income tax to 5%, effective beginning in TY2014.

Amendment 270 - Reducing the Sales Tax to 5% (Lombardo, Marc) Adds a new outside section lowering the state sales tax from 6.25% to 5%.

Amendment 274 - Exempting Municipalities from Gas Tax (Lombardo, Marc) Adds a new outside section exempting municipalities from paying the gas tax.

Amendment 364 - 5% and 5% in 5 Years (Jones, Bradley) Adds a new outside section to lower both the sales tax and the income tax to 5% over the course of 5 years, beginning in TY2015.

Amendment 376 - Disabled Veteran License Plate Excise and Sales Tax Exemption (Jones, Bradley) Adds a new outside section that would exempt disabled veterans who qualify for the disabled veteran license plate from the excise and sales taxes imposed on vehicles, even if they do not have physical possession of a special disabled veterans' plate. Current law allows exemption from the excise and sales tax only for those disabled veterans with physical possession of such a plate.

Amendment 386 - Striking Delay of FAS 109 Deduction (Jones, Bradley) Strikes Section 55, which delays the implementation of the so-call FAS 109 deduction for business corporations.

Amendment 404 - Sales Tax Holiday (D'Emilia, Angelo) Adds a new outside section creating a sales tax holiday during the weekend of August 10 and 11, 2013.

Amendment 680 - Tax Amnesty (Diehl, Geoff) Adds several new outside sections creating a tax amnesty program for personal income, sales, corporate, cigarette taxes, etc. due to the Commonwealth. One-third of the revenue received from the program, up to $10M, will be dedicated to pay for municipal police training, which has been historically underfunded and has been considered an unfunded mandate of municipalities. Another one-third, capped at $10M, will be dedicated to a fund designed for the purchase of new technology and capital expenses necessary to enforce eligibility and purchase restriction for public benefit programs. Remaining funds will be transferred to the General Fund.

Amendment 688 - An Amendment Relative to Rolling Back the Income Tax (Lyons, James) Adds a new outside section lowering the income tax from 5.25% to 5%.

Amendment 690 - Sales Tax Rollback (Lyons, James) Adds several new outside sections decreasing the sales tax from 6.25% to 5%.

Amendment 762 - Meals Tax Holiday (Orrall, Keiko) Adds a new outside section providing for a meals tax holiday for the days of August 11, 2013 through August 15, 2013, inclusive.

Amendment 782 - To More Fairly Determine the Excise Tax for Antique Motor Vehicles (Winslow, Daniel) Adds a new outside section amending the way in which excise tax is calculated for antique motor vehicles to allow for consideration of the condition of the vehicle at the time of sale.

Amendment 831 - An Amendment to Create 56,400 New Jobs for only a $262 Investment Per Job (Hunt, Randy) Adds a new outside section exempting inventory from the personal property tax.