Amendment ID: S2397-26

Amendment 26

Reducing high income tax avoidance

Messrs. Lewis and Cyr, Ms. Rausch, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Jehlen, Messrs. Feeney and Mark, Ms. Edwards, Messrs. Eldridge and Oliveira, Ms. Miranda, Mr. Payano, Ms. Comerford, Messrs. Brady, Crighton, Pacheco, Cronin and Montigny and Ms. Kennedy move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 20 the following section:-

"SECTION 20A. Section 6 of chapter 62C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following:-

(a)(1) Every individual inhabitant of the commonwealth who receives or accrues during the taxable year Massachusetts gross income, as defined in section two of chapter sixty-two, in excess of eight thousand dollars shall make a return of such income.

Every nonresident, whose Massachusetts gross income, determined in accordance with section five A of chapter sixty-two, exceeds eight thousand dollars or the personal exemption to which he may be entitled under section three of chapter sixty-two, whichever is the lesser, and every partnership, association, or trust whose federal gross income, as defined in section one of chapter sixty-two, exceeds one hundred dollars, shall make a return of such income.

Every individual, not otherwise required to file a return under the foregoing provisions of this section, who is a resident for a portion of a twelve-month period beginning on the first day of a taxable year and a nonresident for a portion of the same twelve-month period and whose Massachusetts gross income, as defined in section two of chapter sixty-two, exceeds eight thousand dollars shall make separate returns as a resident and a nonresident of his income subject to taxation under chapter sixty-two.

(a)(2) A married couple must file a joint return for any year in which they file a joint federal income tax return. In cases where one spouse or both spouses are non-residents of the Commonwealth and have items of income, exemptions, or deductions unrelated to their Massachusetts income, the department shall provide by regulation for appropriate adjustments or for exemption from the requirement to file a joint return.

SECTION 62. The provisions of this Act shall apply to all tax years commencing after December 31, 2022."