The governor has until Sunday, Oct. 8 to act on the bill, which she could choose to amend and send back to lawmakersAfter nearly two years of fits and starts, a long-awaited Massachusetts tax relief and reform package made it to the governor's desk Thursday after senators overwhelmingly approved the legislative agreement.
"I'm very happy with what we did today. I would have liked to have gone with more, but today is a great day for all of us, I believe," Timilty told the News Service. Other components of the package include raising the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $2 million while eliminating the so-called cliff effect by imposing a credit of $99,600; increasing the earned income tax credit from 30% to 40% of the federal credit; doubling the senior circuit breaker tax credit from $1,200 to $2,400; and increasing the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000. The package also slashes the short-term capital gains tax rate from 12% to 8.
Gov. Charlie Baker kicked off the tax relief discussion in January 2022 when he filed his own proposal. To Sen. Patrick O'Connor, the ranking minority member of the Ways and Means Committee, the 2022-2023 tax relief talks represented something"very uniquely Massachusetts."