Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The following property shall be exempt from taxation and the date of determination as to age, ownership or other qualifying factors required by any clause shall be July first of each year unless another meaning is clearly apparent from the context; provided, however, that any person who receives an exemption under the provisions of clause Seventeenth, Seventeenth C, Seventeenth D, Twenty-second, Twenty-second A, Twenty-second B, Twenty-second C, Twenty-second D, Twenty-second E, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-seventh A, Forty-first, Forty-first B, Forty-first C, Forty-second or Forty-third shall not receive an exemption on the same property under any other provision of this section, except clause Eighteenth or Forty-fifth.

SECTION 2. Said section 5 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out clauses Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

Twenty-fourth, All intangible personal property.

SECTION 3. Said section 5 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out clauses Twenty-seventh to Thirty-fourth, inclusive.

SECTION 4. The third paragraph of clause Forty-first A of said section 5 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Any such person may, on or before December fifteenth of each year to which the tax relates or within three months after the date on which the bill or notice is first sent, whichever is later, apply to the board of assessors for an exemption of all or part of such real property from taxation during such year; provided, however, that in the case of real estate owned by a person jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not his spouse, the exemption shall not exceed that proportion of total valuation which the amount of his interest in such property bears to the whole tax due.

SECTION 5. Section 59 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

An application for exemption under clause Seventeenth, Seventeenth C, Seventeenth D, Eighteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-second A, Twenty-second B, Twenty-second C, Twenty-second D, Twenty-second E, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-seventh A, Forty-first, Forty-first B, Forty-first C, Forty-second and Forty-third of section five may be made on or before December fifteenth of the year to which the tax relates, or if the bill or notice is first sent after September fifteenth of such year, within three months after the bill or notice is so sent.

SECTION 6. Section 3A of chapter 60 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Every bill or notice shall be in a form approved by the commissioner and shall state that (i) applications for exemption under clauses Seventeenth, Seventeenth C, Seventeenth D, Eighteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-second A, Twenty-second B, Twenty-second C, Twenty-second D, Twenty-second E, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-seventh A, Forty-first, Forty-first A, Forty-first B, Forty-first C, Forty-second and Forty-third of section five of chapter fifty-nine, on forms so approved, shall be filed with the assessors, in case of original assessments, on or before December fifteenth of the year to which the tax relates or within three months after the date on which the bill or notice is sent, whichever is later; (ii) applications for exemption under all other clauses of said section five and applications for abatement under section fifty-nine of said chapter fifty-nine, on forms so approved, shall be filed with the assessors, in case of original assessments, on or before October first of the year to which the tax relates or within thirty days after the date on which the bill or notice is sent, whichever is later; and (iii) applications for exemption under said section five and applications for abatement under said section fifty-nine of said chapter fifty-nine, in the case of an assessment or reassessment under section seventy-five, seventy-six or seventy-seven of said chapter fifty-nine, on forms so approved, shall be filed with the assessors within three months after the date on which the bill or notice is sent.