Governor Healey to sign tax package Wednesday

Chris Lisinski

Taxpayers are about to get hundreds of millions of dollars in relief.

Gov. Maura Healey’s office on Tuesday announced the governor will sign into law a wide-ranging tax relief package lawmakers sent her last week, punctuating more than a year and a half of deliberations that began under former Gov. Charlie Baker and became a centerpiece of Healey’s campaign.

Healey plans to host a bill-signing event Wednesday alongside Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz and top House and Senate Democrats.

A spokesperson for the governor said Healey will approve the entire package, which will carry a financial impact of about $561 million this fiscal year and more than $1 billion annually starting in fiscal year 2027. Because the tax relief bill was not an appropriations proposal, Healey could only sign the whole thing, send the full package back with amendments or veto it, the spokesperson said.

Healey has repeatedly said Massachusetts needs to reform its tax code both to make life more affordable for families and to boost the state’s economic competitiveness.

The bill expands tax credits for parents and caregivers, boosts breaks for renters, seniors and low-income families, cuts the short-term capital gains tax rate, raises the threshold at which the estate tax kicks in, simplifies tax calculations for multistate businesses, and offers more incentives to encourage housing development.

It also tweaks a pair of voter-approved tax laws to change how automatic relief would work under the tax cap law known as Chapter 62F and to prevent high-earning couples from avoiding the new surtax on $1 million by filing separate tax returns.