Massachusetts tax surcharge may be revived

Last year, a proposal to change Massachusetts’ constitution to impose a new 4% tax on individual incomes greater than $1 million was struck down by the courts, but a new version designed to avoid legal challenge has cleared its first hurdle to passage. The so-called “millionaires tax” would be imposed on individuals (but also indirectly on businesses, for those operated as pass-through entities) beginning after 2022. To become law, though, it must be approved by the legislature in two consecutive sessions, and then also approved by the people via ballot. It has been approved by the legislature in the first session (2019-2020), and will be addressed again next year, potentially followed by a ballot vote no earlier than November 2022.