Thanks, But No Thanks

by filosofo. Posted on April 2, 2006 at 9:28 pm

I did my taxes this weekend using an online tax program, but I discovered this set of instructions on page 13 of the Massachusetts income tax return instructions.

That’s right. In the state known as “Tax-a-chusetts,” living in the American city with the highest cost of living, I’m being asked if I want to opt in to pay more taxes, at what would mean a surprising increase of money even for this graduate student.

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4 Comments

  1. Michael C. commented on April 3, 2006 at 7:18 am | Permalink
    Michael C.

    Ayn Rand would be crushed.

  2. Dad commented on April 3, 2006 at 3:56 pm | Permalink
    Dad

    Are there statistics about how many take the state up on this great deal?

  3. Jonathan commented on April 6, 2006 at 11:20 am | Permalink
    Jonathan

    I too would like to see the statistics on this. Similarly, forcing U.S. citizens to pay taxes on their foreign earned income while living abroad is equally ridiculous, IMO.

  4. filosofo commented on April 6, 2006 at 1:32 pm | Permalink
    filosofo

    An op-ed article in the National Review online offers these figures:

    When Massachusetts cut its top tax rate to 5.3 percent in 2001, it let guilty liberals pay the old 5.85 percent rate if they wished. According to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, as of June 15, only 930 taxpayers opted to do so on their 2004 returns generating an extra $246,505. In 2002, 2,215 taxpayers paid the higher rate, yielding $341,829. Among 3,218,572 returns filed in 2003, only 1,488 (or 0.046 percent) paid the voluntary higher rate, adding $209,216 to state coffers.

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