Photo courtesy of Alexius Horatius
HYANNIS – Newly proposed legislation at the state house aims to bring financial relief to seniors and tipped workers.
The house bill would target tax relief to older residents 65 years of age or older living on fixed incomes, paying no income tax on the first $50 thousand. 8th Worcester District State Representative Michael Soter, who filed the legislation, said it would save seniors $2,500 a year on average.
“Seniors who have contributed to our communities for decades deserve this tax relief, which will help cover the additional cost of energy increases and the costs for basic living each day,” said Rep. Soter in a statement.
With Barnstable County being one of the oldest counties in the nation by demographic, the bill would have big impacts for Cape Cod.
Soter also filed a bill that would exclude tipped wages from state income tax calculations, allowing those in many service industries to take home more of their income.
“This last election, the service industry made it clear that they would rather keep tips than have the government set an hourly rate. This is an industry full of hard-working individuals that deserve to keep all their hard-earned money by not taxing tips,” said Soter.
“These servers and the industry were hit the hardest after COVID, this would give much relief to these hard-working citizens who deal with such unpredictable weekly incomes.”
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