Join us to hear from two influential leaders as they discuss how the Commonwealth can lead the AI Revolution.
01/21/2025
9:30am - 11:00am
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Hear from James E. Rooney about the state of the economy, and how it all matters to businesses, residents, and policymakers.
01/22/2025
2:00pm - 2:30pm
Virtual
Join on us on Friday, January 31, as we host our highly anticipated 2025 Pinnacle Awards Luncheon.
01/31/2025
11:00am - 1:30pm
Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport
Go deeper than basic DEI training to achieve higher productivity, satisfaction, and revenue growth with our new corporate workshop.
Join our Transformational DEI Certificate! Our comprehensive learning & development offerings are designed to connect and grow strong leaders who lead both inside and out of the office.
Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.
Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.
City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.
We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).
The Fierce Urgency of Now Festival brings Boston’s diverse young professionals together with business leaders, organizations, and their peers to build connection, advance careers and ignite positive change.
09/14/2024 -
09/17/2024
Suffolk University - Sargent Hall
Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.
BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.
For 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.
The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.
Explore our mission and values to better understand how we are leading the business community forward.
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The key arguments set forth by proponents of the constitutional amendment to add a 4% tax on income over $1 million (the tax hike amendment) misrepresent the facts. Below are the factual counterpoints to each of their three key arguments followed by a set of proactive talking points.
Proponents’ Talking Point: “The state Department of Revenue estimates that the Fair Share Amendment would raise approximately $2 billion a year, entirely from the top 1% of taxpayers.”
Counterpoints: The revenue estimate is overstated by more than $500 million. The DOR’s unpublished estimate did not account for lost revenues from people who choose to leave the state or otherwise plan to reduce their tax burdens. A more recent study from the independent Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University estimates that actual revenue will be $1.3 billion.
Revenue will be raised from a revolving door of taxpayers, many of whom usually earn less than $1 million. A report released earlier this year from the Pioneer Institute, used historical IRS data to document that the majority of taxpayers subject to the surtax will be one-time millionaires. These are taxpayers who experience an event or windfall in a single year, like selling a business or property, that temporarily raises their income above $1 million.
Proponents’ Talking Point: “the Fair Share Amendment creates an ironclad dedication that the funds raised by the amendment must be spent on those two areas [public transportation and education].”
Counterpoint: Claims that funds must be spent on education and transportation are simply wrong. There is no ironclad dedication. This is supported by the Attorney General’s brief during the state’s Supreme Judicial Court proceedings last spring, which notes that “expenditures are contingent on future legislative action” (emphasis added). The Legislature ultimately decides how to spend all revenues, including from the tax hike.
Proponents’ Talking Point: “… right now, the richest people are paying less of their income in taxes than the rest of us. “
Counterpoint: Those with income over $1 million already pay more of their income to state income taxes than all other taxpayers: 4.7% versus less than 4% for the majority of Massachusetts taxpayers
They account for 24% of the state’s total income tax collections, and $2 billion more than the total revenues from nearly 2.4 million other taxpayers combined.
• This amendment will not reduce anyone’s taxes. The proposal is to add to the state’s existing record-high revenues, not to replace revenues from a different source.
• Massachusetts is the only state in the nation considering a tax increase this year. Choosing to raise taxes during a time when the state is flush with revenue risks returning to the “Taxachusetts” label and sending a negative message to current and future job creators: if you generate too much profit, we’ll place a punitive tax on you.
• The state has the highest levels of revenue and rainy day savings ever. Tax revenues are at historic highs and the state has allocated more than $6.5 billion to its rainy day fund. Tax revenues for the fiscal year that ended on July 1 are so high that state law requires taxpayers be refunded nearly $3 billion.
• We risk losing jobs because remote and hybrid work makes jobs more mobile than ever. Companies and workers can move easily and quickly – and they will. Plus, we’ve already seen hybrid work’s impact on downtown Boston, and if more employers or employees move it will devastate local small businesses.
• The state’s nonprofits – including many that supplement the state’s education system – rely on high income earners for funding. IRS data from 2019 shows that Massachusetts taxpayers with more than $1 million in adjusted gross income reported more than $3 billion in charitable contributions. All other Massachusetts filers combined reported $2 billion in contributions.
• Small businesses will be negatively affected. Of the nearly 21,000 tax filers with federal AGI over $1 million, 13,000 report partnership/S-corp income which includes small businesses. There are also 90 farm returns with income over $1 million.
• Education funding disparities risk being exacerbated, not relieved. This amendment is likely to infuse additional funding into a K-12 funding formula that includes structural disparities between wealthy and needy communities. A 2020 report from the Chamber documents the disparities that will worsen with the amendment.
• Joint filers are penalized. The constitutional amendment does not distinguish between individual versus joint income tax filers. A couple earning $1 million would be taxed the same as an individual earning $1 million. The federal income tax, and other progressive tax structures, shift tax brackets to recognize the impact of a two-person filing versus an individual filing. Nearly 90% of taxpayers affected by the tax are joint filers.
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