Public
Policy Discussion Paper No. 04-4
by Robert Tannenwald
In debating Massachusetts business tax policy, protagonists
have cited many different indicators purporting to assess
the fairness, adequacy, and competitiveness of the Commonwealth’s
business taxes. These statistics actually reveal very little
about the degree to which Massachusetts business taxes achieve
these widely accepted tax policy goals. The author explains
why these indicators are misleading and presents new indicators
of business tax competitiveness that, although imperfect,
are more accurate than those most widely quoted. The article
concludes that the fairness of Massachusetts business taxes
is unclear and that the Commonwealth’s corporate income
taxes are inadequate. The clearest conclusion drawn is that
Massachusetts business taxes do not harm its competitive standing.
JEL classification codes: H25, H71, O10
Full-text paper  |
