The successful effort to repeal the Massachusetts state...
The successful effort to repeal the Massachusetts state tax on computer and software services made tech groups more active in the legislative process, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC) CEO Tom Hopcroft told us Tuesday. “Tech is not a regulated industry…
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in the state, so these groups are usually not super involved with lawmakers,” said Hopcroft. The legislature last week repealed a 6.25 percent sales tax on the services (CD Sept 30 p19 ). The tech sector is the second-largest employer in the state, and it creates 1.6 support jobs for every job in the tech sector, said Hopcroft. In order for the state to raise money, it should focus on more “broad-based taxes,” said Hopcroft. MassTLC signed a petition with 20 other tech groups to get a referendum on the tax on the ballot for November 2014 as a “fail safe,” he said: “A lot of people did not want this to become a campaign issue.” The tax was part of a gas tax bill passed by the legislature, so it was not an important issue at the time, said Hopcroft. At a meeting to discuss the tax, MassTLC and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation explained to the governor and legislators the impact that the tax would have on tech companies, he said. “We provided new information that was not considered about this tax the first time around, and it became a real tipping point when the governor came out against the tax,” said Hopcroft.