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Taxation
Committee Advances Bills to Save Businesses $16M
Rep Magnani says safety equipment sales tax "is a negative incentive" By Trevor Hughes
November 3, 1999--Businesses could save up to $16 million in state sales taxes on state and federally mandated worker safety and pollution controls under a proposal approved by the Legislature’s Taxation Committee this morning. The proposal is a combination of two bills originally filed by Senate Science and Technology Committee Chairman David Magnani (D-Framingham). Magnani said that under current law, business must pay sales tax on required pollution and safety equipment like protective goggles. “Philosophically, it’s a little silly to tell people you want them to use safety equipment, then tell them we’re going to tax them,” Magnani said. “The tax is a negative incentive.” The change would let companies deduct those expenses from their annual tax bills. It’s expected to save businesses $11 million in the first year and up to $16 million in later years. Magnani said the salad-dressing company Ken’s Foods, which is based in his district, brought the issue to his attention. The committee today also approved a bill bringing the state’s taxation of trust fund income into line with federal standards. The bill filed by House Insurance Committee Chairwoman Nancy Flavin (D-Easthampton) cuts the state’s 11-step trust tax process down to four. Taxation Committee staff said the bill had no cost because it just simplifies the state’s tax law. And the committee also approved legislation clarifying the state’s tax
laws as they apply to forest, farm and recreational land. Drafted
by a task force headed by Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert Durand,
the bill unifies the state’s three laws giving tax breaks to landowners
who agree to preclude development in their land. The bill is also
revenue-neutral, committee staff said.
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