The pandemic hugely disrupted the state’s economy and workforce, as unemployment rates jumped from 3.1 percent in February 2020, one of the lowest in state history, to 17.8 percent in April 2020, the highest in over four decades. During the pandemic, state and federal unemployment benefits were expanded to address the unprecedented spike in unemployment, and billions in federal loans were used to keep the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program solvent.

Join the MTF Tax Thought Leaders Meeting, which will feature an update on tax collection trends and policy proposals in Massachusetts, as well as a presentation on the state of federal tax reform legislation by a member of the KPMG Federal Tax team. The event will provide relevant information to those interested in tax and tax policy in Massachusetts and offer an opportunity to hear from tax experts within our membership on issues that are top of mind as we approach the midpoint of 2025.

The driver of all the disruption: a shift to remote work that took hold when COVID hit, but has quickly become a permanent change in how white-collar workers do their jobs. The report says the rate is now “settling” at about 30 percent of work being done remotely.

“This is not a Boston phenomenon,” said Doug Howgate, president of the Taxpayers Foundation. But how well the region fares under the new reality, he said, is very much under our control. The question now is “how Boston reacts to a global phenomenon,” said Howgate.

Doug Howgate, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said he was happy the negotiators included just about every element in both the House and Senate proposals, even if some were scaled back.

“They really included some version of everything,” he said.

“We’ve really been about 20 years since the last major tax relief," said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "Your tax code can get out of whack with where your residents are and where you want to be."

The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation opposed the change. It noted, however, that a recent analysis by the Department of Revenue suggested the impact would be limited because more couples would file separately on both their state and federal tax returns.

House and Senate conferees have released a compromise tax bill that includes an impactful combination of tax cuts to help people and employers in Massachusetts. The $951 million package includes a total of 17 different tax relief provisions, each of which targets issues of cost and competitiveness. The total Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 cost is $571 million, with a net impact to the budget that fits within the amount set aside for tax relief in the recently signed FY 2024 spending plan.

“Massachusetts hasn’t really done tax relief in 20 years,” said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which this week released its latest report that insists the “package is paid for, affordable, and overdue.”

“You know every 20 years it’s a good idea to take a look at your tax code,” he told the editorial board. “It’s about time we do that. Times change and circumstances change.”

A new report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation points to huge post-pandemic jumps in state revenue before urging the Legislature to use the time left in the year to finally get their act together on tax cuts.

According to the MTF, the waiting routine is getting kind of old.

Six months after Governor Healey filed her administration’s original tax relief bill and one month after a Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget that reflects the cost of a tax relief package was signed into law, House and Senate conferees have yet to produce their version of a final tax package. MTF has written extensively on the need for sustainable tax relief, the specifics of each legislative proposal, and made recommendations for the final bill.