As Massachusetts lawmakers look for ways to close a $3.6 billion tax revenue gap in the FY21 operating budget, there is a simple idea that could help the state receive sales tax payments more quickly and provide about $267 million of additional revenue in the year it is implemented. The proposal is the prepayment of sales tax by vendors. This straightforward concept is in sharp contrast to accelerated sales tax or daily remittance (ASTR), an idea that has been introduced and rejected multiple times in the past, and introduced again by the Baker administration in the Governor’s revised FY21 budget filed on October 14, 2020 (H.2).
November 10, 2020
Sales Tax
MTF Position Paper: Prepayment is Preferable to Daily Sales Tax Remittance
As Massachusetts lawmakers look for ways to close a $3.6 billion tax revenue gap in the FY21 operating budget, there is a simple idea that could help the state receive sales tax payments more quickly and provide about $267 million of additional revenue in the year it is implemented. The proposal is the prepayment of sales tax by vendors. This straightforward concept is in sharp contrast to accelerated sales tax or daily remittance (ASTR), an idea that has been introduced and rejected multiple times in the past, and introduced again by the Baker administration in the Governor’s revised FY21 budget filed on October 14, 2020 (H.2).
