Monday, September 9, 2013
Republican Legislators' Press Release on Repealing the Tech Tax
Republican Legislators Unleash New Effort to Repeal
Technology Tax
Continue Fight Against Misguided and Destructive
Revenue Measure
BOSTON- Today, Republican legislators from both the House and Senate Caucuses unveiled legislation to repeal the Democrat-approved job killing computer services tax. The legislative measure, which contains the same language as the ballot question recently approved by Attorney General Martha Coakley, is just the latest effort the minority party has put forth in eliminating this unprecedented tax.
Announced during a press conference at Genuine Interactive,
a leading interactive agency, the proposed bill puts forth a targeted approach
to repealing the largest and broadest tax on computer and software services in
the nation.
“We can’t afford to penalize innovation and job creation in
one of the state’s most promising sectors if we hope to have the kind of robust
economic recovery that creates the jobs people need and the tax revenue state
government depends on,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr
(R-Gloucester). “The time is now to change course from increasing taxes
on productivity and focus on creating a climate for job growth and reform and
efficiency in our state’s operations.”
The filing of legislation comes on the heels of the
Massachusetts House and Senate Republican Caucus’ statewide 2013 Technology Tax
Business Roundtables. The weeklong series of roundtable discussions conducted
by Republican lawmakers included conversations with technology industry
professionals and representatives from area chambers of commerce about the
negative effects of the technology tax. The roundtable discussions were
initiated due to the fact that Democratic leadership did not provide a public
hearing to solicit public testimony from those affected by the tax on software
and computer services.
“Since this reckless tax on the technology industry was
approved, we have seen a steady decline in business confidence within
Massachusetts,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). “There
remains absolutely no appetite for this tax, and it continues to hurt the
economic prospects for one of our state’s most vibrant and prosperous trades,
as well as other industries who are suffering from the trickle-down effect of
this careless revenue mechanism. The way to encourage growth and development
within the Commonwealth is not through ill-conceived taxes, but through
business-friendly directives and initiatives.”
Republican lawmakers highlighted the fact that the
Commonwealth does not collect taxes on any other service, and expressed fear
that the computer services tax sets a dangerous precedent for future efforts to
tax other vital services. Furthermore, House and Senate Republicans had each
offered revenue-neutral proposals, which if passed, would have avoided the
implementation of the technology tax. Industry leaders such as the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and the Massachusetts High Technology
Council have repeatedly warned of the destructive nature of the new tax which
is slated to stifle the high-tech industry by close to $500 million a year.
"Genuine Interactive started off as a four person
agency in 2005 and since then, it's grown to a 100 person company," said
John Grayson, Chief Executive Officer of Genuine. "This tax on technology
services is negatively impacting the business and is threatening the future of
the entire technology and innovation industry. Out-of-state vendors are seeing
this as an opportunity to attract businesses away from Massachusetts and that
is going to affect the overall economy of the Commonwealth. In a market where
work is already being outsourced to other countries, this puts yet another
burden on the technology economy in Massachusetts."
Having been filed in both the House and Senate, the joint
legislation awaits assignment to a legislative committee.
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