Weld, Cellucci
call for $234 million income tax cut
For immediate release:
September 13, 1996
Governor William
Weld and Lieutenant Governor Paul Cellucci today announced there will
be an additional $84 million available for the first-ever automatic
income tax cut. Combined with the $150 million already dedicated to
this tax cut in August, the additional surplus would bring the total
amount of the income tax cut to $234 million.
"For too long,
government has been trying to find excuses to spend people's money.
Today we are holding the line against big, bloated, intrusive government
-- for the last six years we've been holding the line -- and Lieutenant
Governor Cellucci and I will continue to hold the line by putting more
money into the pockets of hard-working people," said Weld.
"Tax cuts create
economic opportunity and new jobs, and they are the best way to make
a real difference for millions of working families in Massachusetts,"
said Cellucci.
A $234 million
tax cut would result in a 52 percent increase in personal exemption
on taxpayers' 1996 tax returns. It would be worth approximately $135
for married couples, $105 for heads of households, and $67 for single
filers.
A provision passed
into law ten years ago requires that surplus state funds be deposited
to the stabilization fund or so-called "rainy day" fund. When the fund
reaches $543 million, any excess funds must be returned to the taxpayers
in the form of a tax cut.
In August, Governor
Weld signed a bill appropriating $150 million to this automatic tax
cut. As the books close on FY96, accounts show an additional $84 million
in surplus state funds. If approved by the Legislature, that money would
go back to the taxpayers on top of the $150 million tax cut signed in
August.
Families will
see the cut in the form of an increase in the personal exemption on
their 1996 tax returns. The personal exemptions will rise from $2,200
for approximately $3,335 for individual filers; from $3,400 to $5,155
for single filers; and from $4,400 to $6,670 for joint filers.
"With today's
announcement, the total value of our fifteen tax cuts will leap to more
than $1 billion next year -- and a good portion of that money will go
straight to working families," said Weld.
This document
is provided as a point of information only. It was HTML-edited by Frank
Conte on 9/20/96.
Related Link:
The Massachusetts FY 96 Budget Surplus: Why
the Good News Isn’t So Good and How to Make it Better
HTML Format revised
on
14-Apr-2005 9:20 AM