Tax credits: budget info and guidelines

requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Mr. Todd Feathers
The Lowell Sun

Dear Mr. Feathers:

Are you available this afternoon at about 4:00 for a phone call from myself and one other, on the subject of your request for "copies of all documents reviewed by the Executive Office for Administration & Finance for the purpose of tallying the estimated dollar figures contained in the "Credits against Tax" portion (sections 2.602 to 2.621) of the FY2016 state budget"?

Roger H. Randall
Litigation Bureau
Mass. Dept. of Revenue

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Thanks. Actually, Ms. Nicole St. Peter Mac Dermott of the DOR may be contacting you (or may have already).

RHR

Dear Mr. Feathers,

I understand that you have been in touch with DOR’s communications staff about this request.

We are continuing to work on this request, and should be in touch shortly.

Best regards,

-Tori Kim

Tori T. Kim
Deputy General Counsel
Executive Office for Administration & Finance
State House, Room 373
Boston, MA 02133
Tel: 617-727-2040 x35455

Mr. Todd Feathers
The Lowell Sun

Dear Mr. Feathers:

This is to respond to your request for public records relating to tax credits, specifically seeking “Copies of all documents reviewed by the Executive Office for Administration & Finance for the purpose of tallying the estimated dollar figures contained in the ‘Credits against Tax’ portion (sections 2.602 to 2.621) of the FY2016 state budget.”

Ms. Nicole St. Peter Mac Dermott of the Department or Revenue acknowledged receipt in her phone conversation with you on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017.

Pursuant to 950 CMR 32:06 (2)(b), 2(d), & (3)(c), we respond as follows:

1. The date of your request was Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2016.

2. To the extent that the Executive Office of Administration & Finance reviewed documents that you describe, they were supplied by the Department of Revenue. The Department has created on-line links to certain materials that it used to make the estimates, as disclosed in part 7, below, which are public records. The Department will not produce any taxpayer-specific tax-credit information because the Department is prohibited by statute from doing so.

3. The Department of Revenue, though not specifically the Records Access Officer, is making available, by this response with the on-line links, the information that you seek as stated in part 7 below.

4. The Department intends to withhold taxpayer-specific tax-credit information and all information developed by the Department of Revenue based on this and any other material filed, or required to be filed, with the Commissioner or derived from any other source.

5 . G.L. chapter 62C, section 21(a), and 830 CMR 62C.21.1(2) apply.

6. Each of the provisions in Answer # 5 above apply to taxpayer-specific tax-credit information and any tax-credit records developed by the Department that are taxpayer-specific and are based on material filed or required to be filed with the Commissioner.

7. We are making available to you, by supplying to you the on-line links, the following materials:

http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy16h1/brec_16/ga_16/hdefault.htm This is the FY16 H1 budget filed in January 2015.

http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy16h1/tax_16/htax2600.htm This is the “Credits against Tax” portion for FY ’16.

http://www.mass.gov/dor/tax-professionals/news-and-reports/state-budget-documents/tax-expenditure-budget/ This is the site where DOR Tax Expenditure Budget (TEB) reports are located.

Please note that the introduction sections of the Tax Expenditure Budget (TEB) reports prepared by the Department of Revenue provides very useful information about the TEB process and interpretation of the estimates described and listed in those reports.

Other public records that the Department of Revenue used to generate the TEB for FY 16, including the credits-against-tax portion, are located here:

Transparency reports: http://www.mass.gov/dor/tax-professionals/news-and-reports/massachusetts-tax-credit-transparency-reports/

Corporate Statistics of Income (SOI) reports: http://www.mass.gov/dor/tax-professionals/news-and-reports/statistical-reports/corporate-excise-returns/ (The 2013 report was used for the FY16 TEB).

8. You have the right to an administrative appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records under 950 CMR 32:08(1) and the right to seek judicial review of an unfavorable decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court.

Very truly yours,

Roger H. Randall,
Tax Counsel
Litigation Bureau
Mass. Dept. of Revenue
100 Cambridge Street, 7th floor
Boston, Ma. 02114-9565

617-626-2160