Ravenwood - 11/11/05 06:30 AM
There's a reason they call it Taxachusetts. Democrats in the legislature voted to retroactively raise the state's capital gains tax rate and send out bills for additional taxes owed from the 2002 tax year.
The Boston Globe reports that in the middle of the 2002 tax year, the Massachusetts legislature raised the capital gains tax to 5.3%. Taxpayers affected by the tax hike paid a higher rate for the second half of that year. Well in 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that mid-year tax hikes were illegal, and that the state had to either raise taxes effective January 2002 or January 2003 but not in between. Well not wanting to refund the 6 months worth of higher taxes that were paid in 2002, Democrats in the legislature voted (in 2005) to make the tax hike retroactive back to January 2002. Tax bills for the difference owed were sent out this week, and taxpayers will have 30 days to remit payment.
But the news isn't all bad.
Yesterday, seeking to blunt the political fallout of the unusual tax increase, House Democrats approved a Senate measure to waive interest on the new capital gains payments and to exempt any taxpayer who owes $100 or less. That bill would shave about $45 million off the $150 million to $205 million that the tax hikes will reap, LeBovidge said. It would also reduce the number of people who owe money from 48,000 to 40,000, he said.That's right the generous Taxachusetts legislature isn't going to charge interest or penalties on back taxes from 2002 that they just this year decided were owed.
Category: Left-wing Conspiracy
Comments (5) top link me
Although I hate legalese and all that proprietary Latin crap, even I know what the hell ex post facto means.
The US Constitution, void where prohibited by law.
Posted by: Standard Mischief at November 11, 2005 9:28 AMDamn, Standard beat me to it. Those taxpayers will have to kick it all the way to SCOTUS though, since the MA courts won't see any problems with this law. And what about the folks who had the good sense to move out of the state in the meantime? This law seems even more stupid than the ones just passed in San Fran. Idjits.
Hey, let's push for a new ammendment: make it a capital offense for any legistlator who introduces or votes in favor of a blatantly unconstitional law.
Posted by: Drew at November 11, 2005 12:18 PM"It is said the ancient Greeks used a simple method to prevent the multiplication of 'laws.'...Anyone proposing a new law had to do so standing on a platform with a rope around his neck. If the law was passed, the rope was removed. If the law was voted down, the platform was removed." -- From Dreams Come Due: Government and Economics As If Freedom Mattered, by "John Galt"
The federal income tax has long been run in an ex post facto fashion (e.g., the final regulations for 2005 probably won't be published until January 2006) so don't expect much help from the federal courts. They know where their paycheck comes from...
Posted by: markm at November 11, 2005 4:49 PMHow about the people who had "capital gains for 2002 but did not move to Taxachusetts until 2003? If they live there now do they have to pay up?
Posted by: Bob Reynolds at November 12, 2005 1:06 AM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
