SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2498        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Nick Collins

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to preserve main street by enhancing remote retailer sales tax compliance.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2498        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act to preserve main street by enhancing remote retailer sales tax compliance.

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. Chapter 62C is hereby further amended by inserting after section 16B the following section:-

Section 16C. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

"Third party payment processor", any person or entity engaged in the business of collecting, acquiring or receiving, or remitting payments to vendors or operators under chapters 64G, 64H, 64I, 64L or 64N, in association with credit card, debit card or similar payment arrangements that compensate the vendor or operator in transactions subject to the excise under said chapters.

"Vendor or operator", all remote retailers and remote marketplace facilitators that are obliged to file a return under section 16; provided that, that this section shall not apply to operators whose cumulative room occupancy excise liability in the immediately preceding calendar year with respect to returns filed under said subsection (g) of said section 16 is not more than $150,000; provided further, that this section shall not apply to vendors whose cumulative sales tax liability in the immediately preceding calendar year with respect to returns filed under said subsection (h) of said section 16 is not more than $150,000; and provided further, that this section shall not apply to a materialman who files a return with the commissioner pursuant to said subsection (h) of said section 16.

(b) Any time a vendor or operator receives a payment from or through a third party payment processor, an amount or percentage of said payment, to be determined by the commissioner, shall be bifurcated and separately identified, collected and withheld by said third party payment processor in association with the excise under said chapters 64G, 64H, 64I, 64L, or 64N for which payments are received. Such separate identification shall be conducted in a manner approved by the commissioner, taking into account established industry practices to the extent practicable.

(c) A third party payment processor upon collecting and remitting the funds from a processed payment to a vendor or operator, shall bifurcate, collect and withhold the identified amount or percentage of such payment and remit it unaltered to the department, at substantially the same time that any non-tax balance amount is paid to the vendor or operator.

(d) A third party payment processor shall report total payments made to the commissioner on a monthly return, in a manner provided by the commissioner, which return shall identify each vendor or operator to whom payments were made during the month and the amount of tax paid to the commissioner during the month in association with transactions with each such vendor or operator during that period.

(e) A third party payment processor shall report to each vendor or operator on a monthly basis, in a manner provided by the commissioner, the total tax remitted to the commissioner with respect to transactions of the particular vendor or operator during the monthly period.

(f) Tax amounts paid to the commissioner by a third party payment processor in association with the processing of transactions of a particular vendor or operator during the month shall be available as a credit to the vendor or operator in the filing of returns showing tax due under chapters 64G, 64H, 64I, 64L or 64N, as applicable.

SECTION 2. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a Main Street Massachusetts Recovery and Development Fund which shall receive 50 per cent of the revenue collected under section 16C of chapter 62C of the General Laws. The secretary of housing and economic development shall be the trustee of the fund and shall use the funds for grants to assist small businesses in the commonwealth with annual reported gross sales below $10,000,000.

SECTION 3. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on November 1, 2021.