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Tell us: Lawmakers want to change tax rebate law. Do you agree?

Lawmakers will vote on a bill Thursday that would change the proportional distribution of excess revenue.

April 13, 2023

1 minute to read

Massachusetts taxpayers saw billions of dollars in excess revenue returned to them after a little-known law was triggered earlier this year. Now, lawmakers want to make changes that would more equitably divide revenue to residents if there was another excess in future years.

The law, known as Chapter 62F, requires the state to refund taxpayers if “tax revenue collections in a given fiscal year exceed an annual tax revenue cap.” The state hasn’t had to refund excess tax dollars since 1986, but last year, officials found that revenue collections exceeded the annual cap by $2.941 billion. As a result, around 3 million taxpayers in Massachusetts received checks for about 14% of what they paid in personal income tax in 2021.

House lawmakers, including House Speaker Ron Mariano, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, and Rep. Mark Cusack, are pushing a bill that would change Chapter 62F so that taxpayers would receive equal checks, regardless of their personal income taxes.

“That whole package is based on the success of the economy. It only gets triggered when the economy is very, very successful, and we wanted everyone to share in that success,” Mariano said in a video posted online by State House News Service.

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has come out against the proposal, calling it “a page out of the socialist playbook.”

“Unfortunately, Beacon Hill leaders want to change the law into a wealth redistribution scheme by changing the rebate so everyone will get the same amount back rather than receiving a rebate based on the amount paid in,” the organization said in a statement.

Lawmakers will vote on the bill Thursday, according to The Boston Globe.

What do you think of this tax proposal to change how excess revenue funds are redistributed to Mass. taxpayers? Share your thoughts with Boston.com by filling out the survey below or emailing us at [email protected] and we may feature your response in a future article or on Boston.com social media channels.

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