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Massachusetts Question 6, Toll and Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Credit Initiative (2000)
| Massachusetts Question 6 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Business taxes and Income taxes |
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| Status |
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| Type Indirect initiated state statute |
Origin |
Massachusetts Question 6 was on the ballot as an indirect initiated state statute in Massachusetts on November 7, 2000. It was defeated.
A “yes” vote supported establishing a state personal income tax and corporate excise tax credit for equal to their amount spent on tolls and motor vehicle excise taxes. |
A “no” vote opposed establishing a state personal income tax and corporate excise tax credit for equal to their amount spent on tolls and motor vehicle excise taxes. |
Election results
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Massachusetts Question 6 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 1,090,449 | 42.46% | ||
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1,477,731 | 57.54% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 6 was as follows:
| “ | Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 3, 2000? | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
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This proposed law would allow a state personal income taxpayer a tax credit equal to the amount of tolls the taxpayer paid during the taxable year on all Massachusetts roads, highways, tunnels, and bridges, including the Massachusetts Turnpike and its Boston Extension, the Tobin Bridge, and the Sumner, Callahan, and Ted Williams Tunnels. Also, a corporation would be allowed a credit against its corporate excise taxes in an amount equal to all such tolls paid during the taxable year by the corporation or by its employees in furtherance of the corporation's business. The proposed law would also allow a state personal income taxpayer a tax credit equal to the amount of excise taxes on registered motor vehicles the taxpayer paid during the taxable year. A corporation would be allowed a credit against its corporate excise taxes in an amount equal to all registered motor vehicle excise taxes the corporation paid during the taxable year. The tax credits could not be used to reduce a personal income taxpayer's taxes below zero or a corporate excise taxpayer's taxes below the minimum levels set by state law. Any amount of tax credit not usable in a taxable year because of these limits could be carried over and used in later taxable years, for up to ten years. The proposed law would apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2001. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
An indirect initiated state statute is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends state statute. There are nine (9) states that allow citizens to initiate indirect state statutes.
While a direct initiative is placed on the ballot once supporters file the required number of valid signatures, an indirect initiative is first presented to the state legislature. Legislators have a certain number of days, depending on the state, to adopt the initiative into law. Should legislators take no action or reject the initiative, the initiative is put on the ballot for voters to decide.
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required for an indirect initiated state statute is equal to 3% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Massachusetts also has a distribution requirement that requires no more than 25% of the certified signatures on any petition can come from a single county.
The state Legislature has until the first Wednesday of May in the election year to pass the statute. If the legislature does not pass the proposed statute, proponents must collect a second round of signatures equal to 0.5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. The Legislature also has the power to place an alternative measure alongside the proposed statute via a simple majority vote of the state legislature.
A simple majority vote is required for voter approval. However, the number of affirmative votes cast for the measure must be greater than 30% of the votes cast in the election.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Massachusetts Boston (capital) |
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