discount cigarettes
Alternatives to the tax hikes on the table include cuts in state human service programs or increases in broad-based taxes like the income or sales taxes.
House aides say the tax bill will include tax enforcement law changes sought by Gov. Deval Patrick that may bring in $166 million in new tax revenues. In fiscal 2009, which covers only half the tax year, the House bill would reduce corporate excise tax collections by $85 million while boosting corporate revenues, through the Уcombined reportingФ and Уcheck-the-boxФ reforms, by $289 million. The $1-a-pack discount cigarettes tax hike will produce $174 million in new fiscal 2009 revenues, according to estimates provided by the House Monday.
The Legislature, over Acting Gov. Jane SwiftТs veto, raised taxes by $1.2 billion in 2002.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasiТs poll of House members revealed skittishness about the speakerТs effort to soften the so-called corporate loopholes with a 2.5 percent cut to the overall business excise tax Ч from 9.5 to 7 percent Ч a reduction that would render the overall package revenue-neutral by fiscal 2011.
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