The House budget contains a voluntary income tax rate check-off and CLT is lobbying to
have it included in the Senate budget as well.
As part of this effort, CLT has purchased $10,000 in talk
radio ads to run on Monday, June 11, before the Senate budget debate.
The House budget:
1) Provides a check-off on all state personal income tax forms
for electing an additional voluntary tax, and;
2) Creates a new table in the Department of Revenue's
Schedules and Instructions booklet that provides the difference between the decreasing income tax rate (on Part A
and B income) and what the rate was before Question 4, the income tax rollback, was approved by
59 percent of voters -- the voluntary tax -- and;
3) Requires the Department of Revenue to report the number of
taxpayers who volunteer to pay more, and the amount collected.
The voluntary tax is for choice, and against coercion. It
answers the question "Can't we all just get along?" by letting everyone be a winner of the Question 4 campaign.
The income tax rollback allows taxpayers to take their tax cut
and spend it on their own priorities. The House budget allows some taxpayers to instead choose to continue to pay the
higher rate and let the Legislature decide where the money should go.
This is an easy, non-coercive way to potentially obtain
significantly more revenue for the Senate initiatives on education and health care. We hope the Senate will support the
House language, and that eventually the federal government will create a voluntary tax check-off
too.
The voluntary tax was filed by CLT with Senators Jo Ann
Sprague (R-Walpole), Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) and Rep. Fran Marini (R-Hanson),
who got this version of the bill into the House budget.
The ad's script can be read on CLT's website
and can be heard there beginning Sunday evening.