joint committee on revenue

Amazon cuts deal on California sales taxes

Submitted by Sondra Peskoe on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 8:02am

California recently passed a law that Massachusetts retailers want here ... to collect sales tax on Internet sales.  It wasn't popular with the Internet retailers, as you can imagine, and Amazon spent millions leading a ballot referendum effort to overturn the law.  So California made a one year deal with Amazon.  Now it's up to Congress.

If Congress acts by next summer to settle the contentious issue of how online retailers should be taxed, that decision would override Amazon's deal with California... "If they can't get Congress to act by next July, then they will start to collect the tax in September 2012. If by chance they get Congress to act, then that would trump the state law."  [Full Article:  Los Angeles Times]

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Internet sales tax clears committee, supporters claim fairness is issue

Submitted by Sondra Peskoe on Sun, 08/21/2011 - 11:00pm

The Joint Committee on Revenue is taking the plunge and has reported out of committee the bill calling for the 6.25% sales tax to be collected by the state on phone, online and mail vendors.  Approval and implementation of this bill has the potential to bring in $335 million per year...revenue that could be used to restore cuts to desparately needed programs and to restore jobs.  Congressional enabling legislation is a necessary precursor, and MA would be added to 24 other states seeking the sales and use tax agreement with this new bill, when signed by MA legislators and the Governor.

Revenue Committee Co-chairman Rep. Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington) also said he hoped the debate over deficit reduction would spur federal lawmakers to empower states to collect taxes owed to them.  [Full Article: Wicked Local Wellesley]

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Time running out to vote on final Mass. budget

Submitted by Carmen Arce-Bowen on Sat, 06/18/2011 - 11:00pm

Time is running out for Massachusetts lawmakers to take a final vote on the state budget before the new fiscal year starts July 1.  The Massachusetts House and Senate have already approved separate versions of the more than $30 billion spending plan. [Full Article: Boston Globe]

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It's time we all had a talk

Submitted by yawu on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 10:09am

Brockton Library to stay openAnyone who's been reading Boston.com's Budget Blues blog can see the connections between declining revenues, cuts in local aid and the ensuing cuts to libraries, schools, fire stations and other essential public structures.

Unfortunately, what many people in the state are perceiving is a series of incremental cuts that, when viewed discreetly, don't show the whole picture. People see potholes on the main street and blame their town government, rather than connecting the dots between diminished local capacity and the billions of dollars of tax cuts we enacted in Massachusetts over the last 15 years that have gutted local aid.

This is why the Joint Committee on Revenue's listening tour is so essential. We need to address these problems at the macro level. We need to connect the dots between the 9c cuts Gov. Patrick will likely announce and the obvious solution of additional revenue, which the state could raise by removing exemptions from the Tax Expenditure Budget.

Here are the tour dates:

Worcester - Tax Policy and the Challenges of Local Government
October 7th   
4:00pm to 6:00pm
The Academy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Framingham - Tax Policy and Vulnerable Populations
October 13th
10:00am to 12:00pm
Framingham Senior Center

(more below)

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