Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2713 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 362 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2713
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Natalie M. Blais and Paul W. Mark
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act authorizing the town of Charlemont to establish a tax on commercial recreation services.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin1/11/2023Paul W. MarkBerkshire, Hampden, Franklin and
16	16	Hampshire
17	17	1/12/2023 1 of 6
18	18	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 362 FILED ON: 1/12/2023
19	19	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2713
20	20	By Representative Blais of Deerfield and Senator Mark, a joint petition (accompanied by bill,
21	21	House, No. 2713) of Natalie M. Blais and Paul W. Mark (by vote of the town) for legislation to
22	22	authorize the town of Charlemont to establish a tax on commercial recreation services. Revenue.
23	23	[Local Approval Received.]
24	24	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
25	25	SEE SENATE, NO. 1339 OF 2021-2022.]
26	26	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
27	27	_______________
28	28	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
29	29	(2023-2024)
30	30	_______________
31	31	An Act authorizing the town of Charlemont to establish a tax on commercial recreation services.
32	32	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
33	33	of the same, as follows:
34	34	1 SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the town of
35	35	2Charlemont may assess a tax in the amount of 3 per cent of the ticket price on the fee for service
36	36	3for guided or unguided commercial recreational activities originating or located in the town of
37	37	4Charlemont by a vendor including, but not limited to, skiing, ziplining, whitewater rafting and
38	38	5kayaking, river tubing, mountain coaster rides, and mountain biking. The tax shall be in addition
39	39	6to the amount of any sales tax imposed pursuant to chapter 64H of the General Laws. Upon each
40	40	7sale of a service for guided or unguided commercial recreational activities originating or located
41	41	8in the town of Charlemont by a vendor, the purchaser shall reimburse the vendor for the tax
42	42	9imposed by this chapter and the tax collected by the vendor from the purchaser shall be stated
43	43	10and charged separately from the sale price and shown separately on any record of sale used by 2 of 6
44	44	11the vendor. Not later than the twentieth day of each month, each vendor providing guided or
45	45	12unguided commercial recreational activities originating or located in the town of Charlemont
46	46	13shall pay the tax imposed by this act to the collector for the town of Charlemont. Each such
47	47	14payment shall be made in the manner and accompanied by a return prescribed by the collector,
48	48	15which shall include the vendor’s taxpayer identification number and report the vendor’s total
49	49	16sales, gross sales of applicable services and the amount of tax due for the preceding month and
50	50	17other information the collector determines is reasonably necessary to administer and collect the
51	51	18tax. Such returns shall not be a public record under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4
52	52	19or section 3 of chapter 66 of the General Laws. The collector may disclose such returns only to
53	53	20the assessors, clerks and assistants of the assessors and any designated private auditor of the
54	54	21assessors as may have occasion to inspect the vendor’s books, papers, records and other data in
55	55	22the performance of their official, contractual or designated duties, or to the commissioner of
56	56	23revenue or the taxpayer who submitted the return.
57	57	24 (b) For good cause the collector may grant a reasonable extension of time for filing a
58	58	25return required by subsection (a), provided that the taxpayer, on or before the date prescribed for
59	59	26payment of the tax, files a tentative return, in such form as the collector may require, and pays
60	60	27therewith the amount of tax reasonably estimated to be due. A penalty shall be imposed for
61	61	28failure to file a tax return pursuant to subsection (a) on or before the due date of the return or
62	62	29within any extension of time for payment granted by the collector. The penalty shall be 1 per
63	63	30cent of the amount of tax required to be reported on the return, computed for each month or
64	64	31fraction of a month during which the failure continues, not to exceed in the aggregate 25 per cent
65	65	32of that amount. In computing the penalty for failure to file timely, the amount of tax required to
66	66	33be shown on the return shall be reduced by the amount of any part of the tax which was paid on 3 of 6
67	67	34or before the date prescribed for payment of the tax and by the amount of any credit against the
68	68	35tax which may be claimed upon the return.
69	69	36 (c) A penalty shall be imposed for failure to pay the tax established pursuant to
70	70	37subsection (a) on or before the due date of the return or within any extension of time for payment
71	71	38granted by the collector. The penalty shall be ½ of 1 per cent of the amount of unpaid tax shown
72	72	39on the return, for each month or fraction of a month during which the failure continues, not to
73	73	40exceed in the aggregate 25 per cent of that amount. In computing the penalty for failure to pay
74	74	41timely, the amount of tax shown on the return shall be reduced by the amount of any part of the
75	75	42tax which is paid before the beginning of that month.
76	76	43 (d) A penalty shall be imposed for failure to pay an assessment of the tax established
77	77	44pursuant to subsection (a) and not reported on a return, within 30 days following the date of a
78	78	45notice of assessment by the collector. The penalty shall be ½ of 1 per cent of the amount of the
79	79	46unpaid assessed tax for each month or fraction of a month during which the failure continues, not
80	80	47to exceed in the aggregate 25 per cent of that amount.
81	81	48 (e) Any portion of the tax established by subsection (a) that is not paid on or before the
82	82	49due date of the return will have added to it interest from the due date of the return to the date the
83	83	50tax is paid at the rate charged on overdue property taxes under sections 57 and 57C of chapter 59
84	84	51of the General Laws.
85	85	52 (f) For the purpose of verifying that a vendor assessed a tax and required to file a tax
86	86	53return pursuant to subsection (a) has made a complete and accurate accounting of that vendor’s
87	87	54total sales, gross sales of applicable services and the amount of tax due, the board of assessors
88	88	55may, not later than 3 years after the date the return was due, or not later than 3 years after the 4 of 6
89	89	56date the return was filed, whichever is later, examine the books, papers, records and other data of
90	90	57the vendor required to file the return. A justice of the supreme judicial court or of the superior
91	91	58court may, upon the application of the assessors, compel the production of books, papers, records
92	92	59and other data in the same manner and to the same extent as before those courts.
93	93	60 Books, papers, records and other data obtained pursuant to this subsection shall be open
94	94	61to the inspection of the assessors, clerks and assistants of the assessors and any designated
95	95	62private auditor of the assessors as may have occasion to inspect the books, papers, records and
96	96	63other data in the performance of their official, contractual or designated duties. For purposes of
97	97	64this subsection, a “designated private auditor” shall be an individual, corporation or other legal
98	98	65entity selected by the town to perform an audit which includes the assessing department of the
99	99	66town under the legal authority of this subsection, but only if the individual, corporation or other
100	100	67legal entity shall be compensated for the audit work pursuant to an arrangement under which
101	101	68neither the payment nor the amount of their fees and expenses for the work are contingent on
102	102	69either the results of the audit or whether the results withstand an appeal by a taxpayer. Nothing in
103	103	70this subsection shall prevent a person who submitted that information from inspecting or being
104	104	71provided a copy of the submission upon request.
105	105	72 If the collector determines, from the verification of a return or otherwise, that the full
106	106	73amount of tax assessed has not been reported and paid, the collector may, at any time within 3
107	107	74years and 6 months after the date the return was filed, or 3 years and 6 months after the date it
108	108	75was required to be filed, whichever occurs later, assess the same with interest as provided in
109	109	76subsection (c) and notify the vendor of the assessment. An owner or company aggrieved by the
110	110	77assessment of the additional tax may, not later than 1 month after the bill or notice of the
111	111	78additional assessment is first sent, appeal the assessment to the appellate tax board. 5 of 6
112	112	79 (g) The town of Charlemont may impose a lien on real property owned by the vendor and
113	113	80located within the town for amounts owed pursuant to subsections (a) to (e) that have not been
114	114	81paid by the due date. Where the vendor has not filed a tax return as required by subsection (a),
115	115	82the collector shall estimate the vendor’s total sales and gross sales of applicable services using
116	116	83public data and information including, but not limited to the size of the business, cost of the
117	117	84services provided, duration of the business’ operating season and total sales and gross sales of
118	118	85applicable services reported by similar operators in the same geographic region.
119	119	86 A lien authorized under this subsection shall take effect upon the recording of a list of
120	120	87unpaid taxes by the name of the vendor assessed for the taxes in the registry of deeds of the
121	121	88county or district where the land subject to the lien lies. Unpaid taxes secured by a lien may be
122	122	89collected in the same manner as unpaid charges or fees secured by a municipal charges lien
123	123	90under section 58 of chapter 40. A lien under this subsection may be discharged by filing a
124	124	91certificate from the tax collector that all taxes constituting the lien, together with any interest and
125	125	92costs thereon, have been paid or legally abated. All costs of recording or discharging a lien under
126	126	93this subsection shall be borne by the vendor owing the tax.
127	127	94 (h) In the collection of this tax, the collector shall have all the remedies provided by
128	128	95chapter 60.
129	129	96 SECTION 2. This act shall be submitted for acceptance to the qualified voters of the
130	130	97town of Charlemont at the next regular municipal election in substantially the form of the
131	131	98following question: “Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year 2024, authorizing the
132	132	99town of Charlemont to establish a tax on the fee for service for guided or unguided commercial
133	133	100recreational activity, be accepted?” 6 of 6
134	134	101 Town counsel shall prepare a fair and concise summary of the act, which shall appear
135	135	102below the ballot question. If a majority of votes cast in answer to the question is in the
136	136	103affirmative, section 1 shall take effect, but not otherwise.