Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3152 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. 199 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3152
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Hannah Kane
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 to eliminate contingency fee auditors.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/7/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 199 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3152
18	18	By Representative Kane of Shrewsbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3152) of
19	19	Hannah Kane for legislation to eliminate contingency fee auditors. Revenue.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
23	23	(2025-2026)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act to eliminate contingency fee auditors.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, in determining
29	29	2the liability of any taxpayer for a tax, the department of revenue, the state treasurer nor any state
30	30	3agency or constitutional officer shall contract with or employ any person, agent or firm who is
31	31	4compensated in whole or in part by the state for services rendered on a contingent basis or any
32	32	5other basis related to the amount of tax, interest, or penalty assessed against or collected from the
33	33	6taxpayer.
34	34	7 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the department
35	35	8of revenue, the state treasurer or constitutional officer and any other state agency, in any contract
36	36	9with or employment of any person, agent or firm to assist a local municipal official in the
37	37	10performance of the local municipal assessor’s duties, may not compensate such person or firm, in
38	38	11whole or in part, on a contingent fee basis or any other similar method that may impair the
39	39	12assessor’s independence or the perception of the assessor’s independence by the public. 2 of 3
40	40	13 SECTION 3. Chapter 14 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after
41	41	14section 3A, the following new section:-
42	42	15 Section 3B. Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the department of
43	43	16revenue, the state treasurer or constitutional officer and any other state agency are expressly
44	44	17prohibited from contracting with or employing any person, agent or firm on a contingent fee
45	45	18basis or any other similar method that may impair an auditor’s independence.
46	46	19 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the department
47	47	20of revenue, the state treasurer and any other state agency or constitutional officer may not
48	48	21contract with or employ a tax expert for the purposes of determining the tax liability of any
49	49	22taxpayer for a tax or to defend the state department of revenue’s or state treasurer’s position
50	50	23during the course of a dispute, mediation or litigation a person, agent or firm may not be
51	51	24compensated, in whole or in part, on a contingent fee basis or any other similar method that may
52	52	25impair the assessor’s independence or the perception of the assessor’s independence by the
53	53	26public.
54	54	27 SECTION 5. Any regulations promulgated by any state agency or constitutional officer,
55	55	28including the state treasurer and the department of revenue, authorizing the use of contingent
56	56	29based contracts shall be repealed.
57	57	30 SECTION 6. Section 12 of Chapter 200A of the General Laws is hereby amended by
58	58	31inserting, after subsection (i), a new subsection:-
59	59	32 (j) Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the department of revenue,
60	60	33the state treasurer, a constitutional officer, and any other state agency are expressly prohibited 3 of 3
61	61	34from contracting with or employing any person, agent or firm on a contingent fee basis or any
62	62	35other similar method that may impair an auditor’s independence.
63	63	36 SECTION 7. This act becomes effective July 1, 2026, and applies to audits,
64	64	37determinations of liability, assessments, and services of a tax expert contracted for on or after
65	65	38that date. State agencies and constitutional officers shall not renew contingency fee based
66	66	39contracts for these services after July 1, 2026. For contingency fee based contracts entered into
67	67	40prior to July 1, 2026, state agencies and constitutional officers shall not assign further audits on a
68	68	41contingency fee basis to an auditing firm under such contracts that meet all the following
69	69	42conditions: (i) the contract would have been prohibited under this act had the contract been
70	70	43entered into on or after July 1, 2026, and (ii) the contract allows the assignment of audits on a
71	71	44discretionary basis by the state agency or constitutional officer.”