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