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March 28, 2023
Testimony of Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President & CEO James E. Rooney
Joint Committee on Revenue
Re: H. 42, An Act Creating Tax Relief for Affordability, Competitiveness, & Equity
The Chamber supports the tax reforms in H. 42, An Act Creating Tax Relief for Affordability, Competitiveness, and Equity. With more than 1,200 members, ranging from sole proprietorships to the largest employers in the state, Chamber members employ hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts.
Importantly, and a key message today, is that this proposal should not be dismissed as a tax cut for the rich. In fact, it’s the state’s workforce that will benefit the most from building an inclusive economy so both business and people can start, stay, and succeed in Massachusetts. More than half of the tax change benefits those with dependents and housing costs. And, adjusting tax policies so Massachusetts is no longer an outlier makes the state more attractive to potential employers, entrepreneurs, and job creators.
Massachusetts is Ready for Proactive Tax Reform
Employers increasingly express the opinion that the state needs a renewed focus on competing for talent and business with other states.
We are well positioned to include proactive tax reform in our strategy to compete. The last three years of explosive revenue growth follow nearly a decade of steady growth. For FY24, the state is preparing a budget that is $13 billion, or 30%, more than it spent in FY2019. Nearly three-quarters into FY23, revenues continue to outpace the benchmark by $1 billion.
However, this growth won’t continue if we keep losing employees and employers and fail to acknowledge the new mobility of businesses and people.
Employees Are Leaving
From April 2020 through July 2022, 110,000 people moved out of Massachusetts to other states. Of the country’s 20 largest metro areas, Greater Boston has the smallest share of population under age 18. We rely on domestic and international migration to increase the state’s workforce but we are not keeping pace with the needs of our businesses and our economy – we are losing workers to other states.
Other States are Aggressively Pursuing Employers
Employees aren’t the only ones moving. Nationally, states are reducing or eliminating individual and/or corporate income taxes. On January 1st, 14 states reduced their personal income tax rate and 8 reduced their corporate tax rate. Massachusetts, on the other hand, is the only state in the country that increased income taxes on January 1.
The result is that employers are expanding or starting in other states, and employees are following.
Tax Reform Goals
The Boston Chamber worked with tax experts to develop a reform package, aspects of which are included in H. 42. We also worked closely with the Massachusetts CPA Society. Our package achieves several goals, including:
Support for H. 42
H 42 is a good starting point to achieve these goals.
By reforming the estate tax and reducing the short-term capital gains tax rate, the legislation addresses two policies where Massachusetts is a negative outlier for employers and job creators. We urge you to consider increasing the estate tax threshold to $5 million, which experts say is necessary to stem the outflow of residents and revenue.
The Chamber has long supported the additional $550 million in reforms that provide relief to residents in the form of an increased renter’s deduction, a higher senior circuit breaker tax credit, and a dependent credit.
In addition to the reforms in H. 42, I urge you to consider other proposals that we laid out in our tax reform recommendations: Reform the sting tax, income apportionment, who can carry forward net operating losses, and how much interest can be deducted for borrowing related to in-state investments. These reforms address the goals I laid out earlier, will help drive an inclusive economy, and ensure Massachusetts is a place to start, stay, and succeed.
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