• Non-Compete Agreements: A plan to ban non-compete agreements divided the
business community and the legislature, proving to be one of the most contentious
issues of the legislative session. More mature industries favored retention, while the
innovative and venture capital sectors favored elimination. The House bill was silent
on the use of non-compete agreements; however, the Senate supported limiting their
scope to six months. The final bill omitted any reference to non-competes, retaining
the status quo. This issue is likely to resurface in the next session. Stay tuned!
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• Sales Tax Holiday: The bill also established a tax holiday for the weekend of
August 16 and 17. The measure will suspend the state’s 6.25% sales tax on most
purchases less than $2,500.
STAY
TUNED
Independent Contractor Definition: The MSCPA collaborated with Associated
Industries of Massachusetts and the National Federation of Independent Businesses to
develop corrective language to address the burdensome statutory definition of an
independent contractor. While the language, which conformed Massachusetts to the
IRS’s 11-factor test for determining employee/independent contractor classification,
was not adopted, the MSCPA plans to file legislation to address the issue next session
and form a coalition to advocate for this much-needed change.
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The Economy
By The Numbers:
Statewide Unemployment Rate
-5.5%
June 2014
National Unemployment Rate
-6.1%
June 2014
MA Economic Growth
Tax Provisions in FY15 Budget: The $36.5 billion FY 15 budget, which took effect
on July 1, 2014, contained several tax provisions of interest including:
• an increase in the threshold for small claims cases before the Appellate Tax Board
from $5,000 to $25,000;
• a further delay of the FAS 109 exemption;
• technical and procedural changes to the combined reporting statute;
• language to create a limited two-month tax amnesty program which will apply to
sales and use tax, sales tax on telecommunications services, withholding income,
pass-through entity withholding, room occupancy excise, deeds excise, gasoline
excise, and special fuels excise; and
• a provision allowing for a five-year suspension of accountants or actuaries from
professional engagements with retirement boards if the individual does not follow
the standards established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board
(GASB). The Society opposed the measure and was successful in lobbying for the
removal of the language from the final budget bill. A copy of our letter in
opposition to the plan can be found here.
Continued on page 3
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July Revenue Collections
$1.6
billion, up
$11
million
Over monthly benchmark
U.S. Consumer Confidence
+90.9%
July 2014
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