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2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 5 - Notices and Lists; Instructing Assessors

Section 5. The commissioner may give instructions for preparing the notice and bringing in the lists required by section 29 of chapter 59, and may prescribe forms therefor so arranged that the statement of the person bringing in a list shall include all assessable property held by such person. The commissioner may prescribe forms for the lists and statements required therein relative to property held for literary, temperance, benevolent, charitable or scientific purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 6 - Real Estate Values; Collecting Information

Section 6. The commissioner may collect and tabulate information as to the classification, sales price and fair cash value of real estate in the several towns. For this purpose he may require assessors to furnish him with any information in their possession, may consult persons likely to have knowledge as to the classification, sales price and fair cash value of separate parcels of real estate, and may examine probate and other relevant records.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 7 - Unpaid Taxes; Obtaining Information; Affidavits

Section 7. The commissioner shall from time to time secure information as to any unpaid taxes in any town, may examine the books, records and papers of collectors and assessors, and of other town officers, and may require them to make reports to him.
The commissioner may annually obtain from local officials at the expense of the commonwealth copies of all affidavits executed under section thirty-six of chapter fifty-one, and shall include the information obtained from such affidavits in any examination of tax records so as to insure the payment of taxes by all domiciliaries of the commonwealth. The commissioner shall also forward a copy of such list of residents to the registrar of motor vehicles.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 8b - Reimbursement Claims by Cities and Towns; Filing; Time Limitation

Section 8B. All reimbursement claims to which a city or town may be entitled on account of exemptions and abatements granted under section five of chapter fifty-nine shall be filed with the commissioner of revenue on or before the end of the fiscal year to which said claims relate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 9 - Proposed Equalized Valuation; Establishment

Section 9. In the year nineteen hundred and sixty-six and in every second year thereafter, the commissioner shall, on or before June first, determine and establish for each city and town a proposed equalized valuation which shall be the fair cash value of all property in such city or town subject to local taxation as of January first in such year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 10 - Determination of Equalized Valuation

Section 10. In determining the equalized valuations required by section nine, the commissioner shall make and issue such comprehensive assessment ratio studies of the average level of assessment, the degrees of assessment, uniformity, and over-all compliance with assessment and classification requirements for each major class of property in each city and town of the commonwealth as he shall deem appropriate to indicate the degree of compliance with the law and rules and regulations for the assessment and classification of property in each city and town.
For the purposes of this section, the commissioner shall collect and tabulate information relative to all sales of real estate and shall also cause appraisals to be made of properties of various classes in each city and town sufficient in number and so selected, by random sampling or otherwise, as to (a) confirm the assessment ratio derived from selling prices, (b) assist in determining assessment ratio wherever the number of sales is insufficient to represent all properties of any specific class in a city or town, (c) provide a substitute for selling prices of properties of a unique character or which are sold at infrequent intervals, and (d) establish an assessment ratio for personal property assessed in each city or town.
The commissioner may require from state, city and town officers and from individual property owners such returns and statements relative to the amount and value of taxable property and the income derived therefrom in the several cities and towns as he deems necessary. If a city or town fails to submit such information in its possession or which it can reasonably be expected to obtain as the commissioner requests in writing for use in determining the equalized valuations required by section nine and such failure continues for thirty days after such written request, such city or town shall not have a right to submit testimony to the commissioner as provided under section ten A and the decision of the commissioner with respect to such city or town shall be final.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 10a - Proposed Equalized Valuation; Notice and Hearing; Changes

Section 10A. On or before June tenth, in each year in which an equalization is to be established, the commissioner shall hold a public hearing on the proposed equalized valuations. He shall send written notice thereof, together with a copy of the proposed equalized valuations, to the assessors of each city and town on or before June first of such year. The commissioner may, on the basis of any new information furnished to him at such hearing or otherwise, change the proposed equalized valuation of any city or town. Notice of any change shall be sent to the assessors of such city or town on or before July twentieth next following.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 10b - Appeal to Appellate Tax Board

Section 10B. On or before August tenth next following, a city or town aggrieved by the equalized valuation established by the commissioner under sections nine and ten A may appeal the determination of the commissioner to the appellate tax board. The appellant shall have the burden of proving that the equalized valuation of such city or town is substantially different from the commissioner's determination. Every such appeal shall be decided by the board not later than January twentieth of the year next following the year in which it is filed. If the board fails to act upon an appeal within said time, it shall be deemed to be a denial of such appeal. The decision of the board shall be final.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 10c - Final Equalization and Apportionment; Establishment; Report to General Court

Section 10C. On or before January thirty-first of the year next following the year for which an equalization is to be established, the commissioner shall, on the basis of the equalized valuations determined under sections nine and ten A, as modified by the appellate tax board under section ten B, establish a final equalization and apportionment upon the several cities and towns as of January first of such year of the fair cash value of all property in the commonwealth subject to local taxation, the fair cash value of all such property in each city and town, the ratio which the fair cash value of all such property in each city or town bears to the fair cash value of all such property in the commonwealth, and the proportion of county tax, which should be assessed upon each city and town. Prior to establishing a final equalization and apportionment, the commissioner shall add to the equalized valuations so determined the fair cash value of all property subject to the excise imposed by section ten of chapter one hundred and twenty-one A and said property shall, for the purpose of this section only, be deemed property subject to local taxation. The fair cash value of said property shall be established by the commissioner at an amount no higher than that which would result if the owner thereof were paying a tax under the provisions of chapter fifty-nine equal to the total payments made to the city or town under chapter one hundred and twenty-one A in the most recent calendar year, and if all property actually subject to local taxation in such city or town were being assessed at the equalized valuation determined by the commissioner hereunder. The equalized valuations and apportionments so established shall be the basis for all state, county or district assessments, distributions and appropriated grants and reimbursements which are based on equalized valuations and apportionments, in the next two-year period and until another equalization and apportionment has been established.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 14 - Determination of Fair Cash Valuation of State-Owned Land Located Within Municipalities; Land Held by Division of Watershed Management

Section 14. In 2019 and every 2 years thereafter, the commissioner, on or before June 1, shall determine the fair cash valuation of state-owned land located within each city or town under section 13. To assist in making the determination the commissioner may require oral or written information from any officer or agent of the commonwealth or of any city or town therein and from any other inhabitant thereof, and may require such information to be on oath. Such officers, agents and persons, so far as able, shall furnish the commissioner with the required information in such form as the commissioner may indicate, within 15 days after being so requested by the commissioner.
With respect to land held by the division of watershed management in the department of conservation and recreation for the purposes named in section 5G of chapter 59, the commissioner shall, by June 1, also determine the fair cash valuation of such land in each city or town by the same method as provided in section 13 for determining the fair cash valuation of state-owned land and notify the division of the valuations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 15 - Notification of Land Acquired or Disposed of by Commonwealth

Section 15. Whenever the commonwealth acquires or disposes of land, the commissioner of the division of capital assets management shall notify the commissioner. The commissioner shall determine whether the acquisition or disposition is state-owned land as defined in section 13. Land so determined by March 1 shall be included in or removed from the annual statement of fair cash valuation and reimbursement percentages made by the commissioner under section 16.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 16 - Statement of Fair Cash Valuation Reimbursement Percentage for Each Municipality Where State-Owned Land Located

Section 16. The commissioner shall annually deliver, to the state treasurer, a statement of the fair cash valuation reimbursement percentage for each city and town in which state-owned land is located, and of the amount of money to be paid to each such city and town as determined by the following section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 17 - Reimbursement of Municipalities Where State-Owned Land Located

Section 17. The treasurer shall annually, reimburse each city and town in which state-owned land is located, an amount in lieu of taxes upon the reimbursement percentages reported to the treasurer by the commissioner under the preceding section, determined by multiplying the percentages by the amount appropriated for such purposes for the fiscal year. No reimbursements hereunder on account of lands owned by the commonwealth and under the care and control of the department of conservation and recreation and used for recreational or conservation purposes shall be made from the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 17b - Property Taken for Flood Control; Loss of Taxes; Reimbursement

Section 17B. The state treasurer shall annually, not later than November twentieth, upon certification by the commissioner as hereinafter provided, pay to each town in which property has been taken for flood control reservoirs by the commonwealth under any act, or the United States pursuant to consent granted by the commonwealth under chapter two hundred and eighty-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, chapter five hundred and ninety-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-eight and chapter six hundred and thirteen of the acts of nineteen hundred and fifty-six, an amount determined by the commissioner as tax losses resulting from the takings. Such losses of taxes as determined by the commissioner shall be based on the then current tax rate in each town in which property has been taken for flood control reservoirs and on the average assessed valuation for a period of five years prior to the acquisition of said land; provided, however, that whenever a town wherein a flood control reservoir or portion thereof is located shall have made a general revaluation of property subject to the annual municipal taxes for such town, the commissioner may use such revaluation for determining the taxes for which payment shall be made. Said commissioner shall annually ascertain said valuation and the amount to be paid to each town, and shall certify the same to the state treasurer not later than November first.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 17c - Forest Products Trust Fund

Section 17C. A Forest Products Trust Fund shall be established on the books of the commonwealth. This fund shall be used to disburse payments to cities and towns within whose boundaries exist state owned forest land. The commissioner of the department of environmental management with the approval of the secretary of environmental affairs shall develop forest management plans for all forest land owned by the commonwealth, its agencies, commissions or authorities, with the exception of land owned by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
(a) Fifty percent of all revenue received by the removal of forest products on land acquired by the commonwealth on or after June 1, 1987 shall be deposited in the Forest Products Trust Fund. Such funds shall be dispersed to those municipalities within whose boundaries the removal of forest products occurs in an amount equal to fifty percent of the revenue received by the commonwealth.
(b) Eight percent of all revenue received by the removal of forest products on land acquired by the commonwealth before June 1, 1987 shall be deposited in the Forest Products Trust Fund. Such funds shall be dispersed to those municipalities within whose boundaries the removal of forest products occurs in an amount equal to eight percent of the revenue received by the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 18b - Distribution of Highway Fund; Notification of Amount Required; Fractions

Section 18B. The state treasurer, without further appropriation and upon certification of the commissioner, shall annually distribute to the several cities and towns in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-one of chapter eighty-one that portion of the Highway Fund allocated therefor. Said amount shall be distributed in four equal payments. Said payments shall be made annually, in each fiscal year, on or before September thirtieth, December thirty-first, March thirty-first and June thirtieth.
The commissioner of highways shall notify the commissioner of revenue of the estimated amounts required to be distributed under this section. The commissioner of revenue shall include said amounts in his notification to the assessors of each city and town under section twenty-five A and said amounts shall be included by the assessors in estimated receipts in determining the rate of taxation to be levied upon taxable property in each city and town.
If upon any date of distribution the amount available for distribution under this section is insufficient to make the full distributions required by said section thirty-one of said chapter eighty-one, the distributions thereunder shall be the amount otherwise due each city or town under said section multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the amount available for distribution under this section and the denominator shall be the total amount otherwise due for the several cities and towns under the provisions of said section thirty-one of said chapter eighty-one. If upon any date of distribution the amount available for distribution under this section exceeds the amount necessary to make the full distributions required by said section thirty-one of chapter eighty-one, the distributions thereunder shall be the amount otherwise due each city or town under said section thirty-one of chapter eighty-one increased by an amount which shall be the total amount available for distribution less the total amount required for distribution multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the amount otherwise due each city or town under said section thirty-one of chapter eighty-one and the denominator of which shall be the amount otherwise due the several cities and towns under said section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 18c - Distribution of Budgeted Aid to Cities and Towns

Section 18C. (a) In this section, ''budgeted aid'' shall mean unrestricted aid to cities and towns, including proceeds from the state lottery established under chapter 10, payments in lieu of taxes from the commonwealth to cities and towns and education aid to cities and towns under chapter 70.
(b) The state treasurer shall, subject to appropriation but not subject to allotment under section 9B of chapter 29, distribute budgeted aid to cities and towns. The distribution shall be made in 12 equal payments, on or before the last day of each month.
Notwithstanding clause Forty-first of section 7 of chapter 4 or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of revenue or any official responsible for a local reimbursement or assistance program reported by said commissioner under section 25A shall use, as appropriate, the most recent city and town population estimates of the United States Bureau of the Census in calculating distributions or assessments under local reimbursement or assistance programs. Such distribution programs shall include, but not be limited to, the chapter 70 school aid program, and aid to regional public libraries. Such assessments shall include, but not be limited to, air pollution control districts, the metropolitan area planning council, the old colony planning council, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and any other entity for which said commissioner is required to give notice under said section 25A.
(c) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the distribution of other state government payments to cities and towns that are not budgeted aid through 1 or more of the monthly payments to cities and towns. Nor shall this section be construed to prohibit the deduction from distributions to satisfy amounts owed to the state by cities and towns under section 20A or any other general or special law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 18f - Distributions to Cities, Towns, or Regional School Districts; Receipt of Certification of Prior Financial Reports

Section 18F. No distributions pursuant to sections eighteen A and eighteen E shall be paid to cities or towns after November 30 of the fiscal year, or during any fiscal year thereafter by the state treasurer until said treasurer receives certification from the commissioner of revenue of said commissioner's acceptance of the prior fiscal year's annual financial reports submitted pursuant to the provisions of section forty-three of chapter forty-four.
In the case of regional school districts, distributions pursuant to chapters seventy, seventy-one, seventy-one A, seventy-one B and seventy-four shall not be paid by the state treasurer after November 30 of the fiscal year, or during any fiscal year thereafter until said state treasurer receives certification from said commissioner of revenue of the acceptance of the prior year's annual financial reports as prescribed by the director of accounts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 20a - Deductions From Sums Payable to Cities and Towns

Section 20A. If, at the time any amount is distributable or payable by the commonwealth to any city or town, there is due to the commonwealth any sum from such city or town, for any service or cause whatsoever, such sum so due to the commonwealth shall be deducted by the state treasurer from the amount so distributable or payable to the city or town, and shall be applied to the payment of the sum so due to the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 25 - Amounts Due Municipalities; Determination; Payment

Section 25. The commissioner shall ascertain and determine the amount due to each city and town under section eighteen A, notify the treasurer of each city and town of the amount determined to be due to such city or town, or that no amount is due, as the case may be, and certify the amount as determined to the state treasurer, who shall thereupon pay the same in accordance with the provisions of said sections.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 25a - Amounts Due Municipalities; Annual Estimates

Section 25A. Annually on or before March first, the commissioner shall ascertain and determine the amount due each city and town under sections eighteen A, eighteen B, and eighteen C, and the commonwealth's share of local reimbursement and assistance programs as authorized by law and the amount appropriated by the general court, including, but not limited to, school building construction, school transportation, school lunches, educational programs, teachers' retirement pensions, veteran's benefits, public health and housing and urban renewal subsidies, and shall notify the assessors of each city and town thereof. Annually on or before February first each department, commission, board or other agency of the commonwealth administering any local reimbursement or assistance program included under this section for which the commissioner is required to estimate the amount to be received by each city or town shall, upon the basis of information then available to it, estimate and certify to the commissioner of revenue the amount each city and town is to receive from the commonwealth under such program during the next fiscal year. Said assessors, in determining the rate of taxation to be levied upon taxable property for the year, shall include in the estimated receipts lawfully applicable to the payment of expenditures the aforesaid amount.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 25b - Proceeds of Cigarette Excise; Certification for Payment by Commissioner of Revenue

Section 25B. The commissioner of revenue shall, as hereinafter provided, certify to the state treasurer for payment, from that portion of the proceeds of the excise on cigarettes as authorized by paragraph (b) of section twenty-eight of chapter sixty-four C, the following:—
(a) From time to time when required, the contract assistance to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority provided under section twenty-eight of chapter one hundred and sixty-one A or under other applicable laws, and from time to time when required, the contract assistance to regional transportation authorities, provided under section twenty-three of chapter one hundred and sixty-one B;
(b) From time to time, when required, reimbursements to cities and towns comprising transportation areas as provided under section one hundred and fifty-two A of chapter one hundred and sixty-one, and to the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, as provided under section nine A of chapter seven hundred and one of the acts of nineteen hundred and sixty, as amended;
[There is no subsection (c).]
(d) On or before November twentieth of each year, the amount certified by the commissioner of education to be payable to any city or town as a transportation allowance under the provisions of section seven B of chapter seventy-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 28 - Annual Assessments for Deposits With State Treasurer; Trust Funds

Section 28. The commissioner shall annually assess upon every corporation or organization required by law to make deposits in trust with the state treasurer one twentieth of one per cent of the average of such deposits by it for the year last preceding such assessment. Such assessment shall be collected in the same manner as taxes upon corporations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 28a - Withholding Taxes; Internal Revenue Code of United States

Section 28A. The state treasurer and other officials having charge of the payment of salaries and wages by the commonwealth and its political subdivisions, respectively, to officers and employees thereof are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to withhold such amount of the salaries or wages of each such officer or employee as may be required by the provisions of the internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, and to transmit and pay the amount so withheld to the government of the United States in accordance with said provisions.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 28b - Withholding Statements; Federal Taxes

Section 28B. The state treasurer and other officials having charge of the payment of salaries and wages by the commonwealth and its political subdivisions, respectively, to officers and employees thereof are hereby authorized, empowered and directed to furnish to each such officer or employee in respect of his employment during any calendar year, on or before January thirty-first of the succeeding year, a written statement showing the name and address of, and the salary or wages paid to, such officer or employee during such calendar year, and the amount of the federal tax deducted and withheld under the internal revenue code, as from time to time amended, in respect of such salary or wages, and a copy thereof to the commissioner of internal revenue, or his successor, and to the commissioner of revenue.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 28c - Reciprocal Enforcement of Tax Liabilities

Section 28C. At the request of the commissioner, the attorney general may bring suit, in the name of the commonwealth, in the appropriate court of any other state to collect any tax legally due the commonwealth; and any political subdivision of the commonwealth or the appropriate officer thereof, acting in its behalf, may bring suit in the appropriate court of any other state to collect any tax legally due to such political subdivision.
The courts shall recognize and enforce liabilities for taxes similar to the taxes imposed by the commonwealth and lawfully imposed by any other state, or political subdivision thereof, which extends a like comity to the commonwealth, and the duly authorized officer of any other state, or political subdivision thereof, may sue for the collection of such taxes in the courts of the commonwealth. A certificate by the secretary of state of such other state that the officer suing for the collection of such a tax is duly authorized to collect the same shall be conclusive proof of such authority. A certificate by the commissioner of revenue that the tax of such other state or political subdivision thereof is similar to a tax imposed by the commonwealth shall be prima facie evidence of such similarity.
For the purposes of this section, the words ''tax'' and ''taxes'' shall include interest and penalties due under any taxing statute, and liability for such interest or penalties, or both, due under a taxing statute of another state, or political subdivision thereof, shall be recognized and enforced by the courts of the commonwealth to the same extent that the laws of such other state permit the enforcement in its courts of liability for such interest or penalties, or both, due under the tax laws of the commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58 - General Provisions Relative to Taxation › Section 31 - Forms; Authority of Commissioner

Section 31. In addition to the forms expressly required by any other provision of law to be as prescribed or approved by the commissioner, the commissioner may prescribe any other form considered necessary or convenient for use under any provision of chapters 59 to 65C, inclusive; provided, that variance from a prescribed form shall not affect the validity of the form so used, if the form used is in substantial conformity to that so prescribed. In any case where the commissioner prescribes a form, the form may be completed or maintained electronically.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 1a - Quorum; Decisions by a Single Member of Board

Section 1A. The majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of its business. For purposes of this section, temporary members shall not be counted for purposes of a quorum, and shall not vote on board matters other than upon specific cases to which they are assigned by the chairman. A single member of the board may decide the following types of cases:
(i) cases on appeal from a board of assessors where the assessed value of the property involved does not exceed $500,000;
(ii) cases on appeal from a board of assessors where the assessed value exceeds $500,000 but does not exceed $750,000 when the appellant and appellee gives written consent to a decision by a single member;
(iii) cases heard under the informal procedure in which the assessed value is less than $1,000,000 as provided in section 7A or the small claims procedure as provided in section 7B.
In any such appeal, upon request and upon the filing of such written consent the appeal shall be advanced for speedy hearing.
Such decision shall be signed by the single member of the board who presided at the hearing, and such case shall be attributed to said single member for tracking and evaluation purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 2 - Principal Office; Meetings; Hearings

Section 2. The principal office of the board shall be in Boston but said board may sit at any place within the commonwealth. The time and place of its meetings shall be prescribed by the chairman, and the chairman shall assign all members for the hearings held outside of Boston on a rotating basis, taking into consideration the expertise, qualifications, travel involved and needs of the entire board when determining the rotation. The county commissioners shall provide the board with suitable rooms in courthouses or other buildings when necessary for hearings outside the city of Boston. Adequate offices and a hearing room in the state house or elsewhere in said city shall be provided for the board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 3 - Reports and Opinions; Publication; Sale

Section 3. The board shall provide for the publication and sale or distribution of such of its reports and opinions as are of public interest, in such form and manner as it may deem best adapted for public convenience and use, upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by the governor and council.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 4 - Annual Reports

Section 4. The board shall report annually to the general court such suggestions and recommendations for the amendment, alteration and modification of existing laws relative to taxation and related matters, as it may deem desirable, and shall include in such report a statement of the number and type of matters handled by it during the preceding state fiscal year and the number of matters pending at the end of the year. Such report shall further provide the aggregate number and type of cases assigned to each member, the manner by which the case was disposed of and the average length of time for issuing a decision from the date of the close of the record.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 5 - Traveling Expenses

Section 5. The members and employees of the board shall receive their necessary and reasonable traveling expenses and such other expenses, including subsistence actually incurred while traveling outside the city of Boston in the performance of their duties.
For purposes of this section, overnight accommodations for travel within a 50 mile radius of Boston shall not be considered reasonable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 5a - Appointment of Employees; Expenditures

Section 5A. Subject to appropriation, the chairman shall appoint five attorneys and may appoint such other employees, including clerks, and make such other expenditures including computer training, as he deems necessary in order to execute efficiently the functions vested in said board.
Any clerk or assistant clerk employed by the board as of July 1, 1996 shall hold office during good behavior, subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. A clerk or assistant clerk may be removed by the chairman, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty, inability to perform duties, or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause. All clerks or assistant clerks hired after July 1, 1996 shall be deemed employees at will.
All expenditures of the board shall be allowed and paid out of moneys appropriated for the purpose of the board, upon presentation of itemized vouchers therefor, signed by the chairman or a person designated by the board for the purpose.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 8 - Hearings

Section 8. A hearing shall be granted if any party to an appeal so requests, and upon motion of any party to an appeal, or by direction of the board, any appeal may be set down for a hearing. Hearings may be held before less than a majority of the members of the board and the chairman may assign members to hold hearings. Hearings before the board, or any member thereof, shall be open to the public and such hearings and all proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with such rules of practice and procedure as the board may make and promulgate; provided, however, that such rules and amendments thereto shall comply with the filing provisions of section 5 of chapter 30A and such rules and amendments shall not take effect until so filed. The chairman may direct that two or more petitions for abatement of the taxes assessed upon real estate situated in the same general locality of the same town be heard together, irrespective of the identity of the appellants.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 8a - Discovery Procedure

Section 8A. Before the hearing of a petition for the abatement of a tax upon real estate, machinery or other tangible property, the appellant shall permit the appellee personally or by attorneys, experts or other agents, to enter upon such real estate or upon any premises where such personal property is situated and examine and inspect such real estate or personal property, including any property which the appellant claims is exempt from taxation. In case of doubt or uncertainty as to the identity of the property, the appellant shall point out to the appellee the property to which the appeal relates. In the event the appellant refuses to permit the appellee to inspect said property, the board may dismiss the appeal. Sections 61 to 70, inclusive, of chapter 231 shall apply to all appeals before the board except those conducted under the informal procedure provided by section 7A or under the small claims procedure provided by section 7B of this chapter. At least 30 days prior to the hearing of a petition for the abatement of a tax, upon a motion filed by either party and granted by the board, or by direction of the board, the appellant and appellee shall exchange appraisal reports concerning the property.
In any pending appeal where jurisdiction is established, the board, with the consent of all parties, may in its discretion employ alternative dispute resolution techniques including, without limitation, mediation and arbitration. Said alternative dispute resolution techniques shall be conducted upon such terms and conditions as are established by the parties with the approval of the board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 9 - Service of Process

Section 9. The mailing by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the address of any appellant as given on the petition upon appeal, or to the address of his attorney or agent of record, if any, or to the usual place of business of the commissioner or of the board of assessors, or its agent or attorney of record, shall be deemed sufficient service of any pleading, motion, order, notice or process so served in respect to proceedings before the board. The board may order that further notice or notice by other means be given in any case.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 10 - Recording of Proceedings; Electronic Transcription; Costs; Waiver of Appeal

Section 10. At the request of any party made before any evidence is offered, or by direction of the board, the board shall order that all proceedings in a pending appeal be officially recorded. The board shall employ transcription methods including, without limitation, electronic transcription equipment, for the purpose of recording or reporting proceedings before the board. The board may contract for the reporting of such proceedings at the expense of the commonwealth in the first instance, but shall collect the cost thereof from the persons requesting that the proceedings be recorded. In such contract the board may provide that one or more copies of the transcript be supplied to the board without cost to the commonwealth, and may fix the terms and conditions upon which transcripts will be supplied to other persons and agencies by the official recorder. No proceedings shall be recorded or transcribed officially until an amount equal to the cost thereof, as estimated by the clerk, shall have been deposited with him at such times and in such manner as may be provided by the rules of the board. Any excess deposit over the actual cost shall be returned to the depositor by the clerk. If no party requests that the proceedings be reported, all parties shall be deemed to have waived all rights of appeal to appeals court or the supreme judicial court upon questions as to the admission or exclusion of evidence, or as to whether a finding was warranted by the evidence. The right of appeal upon questions of law raised by the pleadings or by an agreed statement of facts or shown by the report of the board shall not be deemed to be waived. For its own information only, the board may, subject to appropriation, have stenographic notes of hearings taken and may have transcripts thereof prepared in proceedings which are not officially reported at the request of a party.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 11 - Oaths; Witnesses; Depositions

Section 11. Any member of the board, or any employee of the board designated in writing for the purpose by the chairman, may administer oaths, and any member of the board may summon and examine witnesses and require, by subpoena signed by the member, the production of all returns, books, papers, documents, correspondence and other evidence, pertinent to the matter under inquiry, at any designated place of hearing, and may require the taking of a deposition before any person competent to administer oaths, either within or without the commonwealth. In the case of a deposition, the testimony shall be reduced to writing by the person taking the deposition or under his direction and shall then be subscribed by the deponent.
Either party may summon witnesses or may require the production of papers in the same manner in which witnesses may be summoned and papers may be required to be produced for the purpose of trials in the superior courts of the commonwealth. Any witness summoned or whose deposition is taken shall receive the same fees and mileage as witnesses in said courts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 12 - Costs; Witness Fees; Service of Process

Section 12. Witness fees and expenses of service of process may be taxed as costs against the unsuccessful party to the appeal, in the discretion of the board. In the event that the commonwealth, or any official thereof, is the unsuccessful party to an appeal, the costs shall be paid from the state treasury upon certificate of a member of the board in such form as the board may prescribe by regulation. In the event that a subdivision of the commonwealth, or any official thereof, is the unsuccessful party to an appeal, the costs shall be paid from the treasury of such subdivision by the treasurer thereof upon the certificate of a member of the board in such form as the board may prescribe by regulation. In the event that costs are taxed against an unsuccessful taxpayer, a member of the board shall certify the amount of the same and the costs may be recovered in an action of contract by the state treasurer in the case of a tax assessed by the commissioner, or by the treasurer of the subdivision of the commonwealth in the case of a tax assessed by the subdivision.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 12a - Costs; Appeal

Section 12A. If the owner of a parcel of real estate files an appeal of the assessed value of said parcel with the board for either of the next two fiscal years after a fiscal year for which the board has determined the fair cash value of said parcel and if the assessed value is greater than the fair cash value as determined by the board, the burden shall be upon the appellee to prove that the assessed value was warranted and upon failure of the appellee to do so, the board may, in its discretion, tax as costs against the appellee, in addition to witness fees and expenses of service of process, the whole or any part of the reasonable expense of the taxpayer incurred in the preparation, entry and trial of his appeal. Should the board find that the assessed value was warranted, then it may tax such costs of the appellee against the appellant. Such costs shall be certified and paid as provided in section 12.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 12b - Evidence of Fair Cash Valuation or Classification of Property; Admissibility

Section 12B. At any hearing relative to the assessed fair cash valuation or classification of property, evidence as to the fair cash valuation or classification of property at which assessors have assessed other property of a comparable nature or class shall be admissible.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 58a - Appellate Tax Board › Section 12c - Appeals; Reports of Assessment Ratios; Admissibility in Evidence; Abatement

Section 12C. In any appeal relative to the assessed valuation of property, the reports of the ratios which assessments in the city or town bear to the fair cash value of each class of property therein and the ratio which the total assessed value bears to the total fair cash value therein as determined by the commissioner's report made pursuant to sections 10 and 10C of chapter 58 shall be admitted into evidence by the appellate tax board on its own motion and shall be prima facie evidence of the assessment practices of the city or town and the ratios at which property is assessed for the year for which said determination is reported by the commissioner and for each following year until a new determination is reported by said commissioner under said section 10C.
The board may give an abatement, provided the evidence so warrants, on the basis of a disproportionate assessment even though that issue has not been raised by the pleadings.