The National Taxpayers Union Foundation today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in New Hampshire v. Massachusetts asking the Court to allow the case to go forward in an effort to protect remote workers whose livelihoods are under attack by other states. The case concerns Massachusetts’ attempt to violate New Hampshire’s sovereignty by expanding its state taxing power to income earned in other states by non-residents of Massachusetts.
This is an unprecedented claim of taxing power by one state over another’s residents, and if allowed to stand would create a massive expansion of individuals and businesses now subject to Massachusetts state taxes - and allow for a similar expansion for all fifty states.
As counsel Joe Bishop-Henchman writes in the brief:
Massachusetts has never before claimed the power to tax non-residents for their intrastate activity in another state, and whether “temporary” or permanent, this is a sharp change from the relationships between sovereign states that existed before. A dramatic policy change such as this, with the potential to affect the many Americans who formerly commuted between states but now telecommute from one location, is “a matter of grave public concern in which the state, as the representative of the public, has an interest apart from that of the individuals affected,” thus warranting this Court’s exercise of original jurisdiction.
NTUF is joined by 16 other organizations in filing this amicus brief, representing millions of Americans: Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire, Americans for Tax Reform, Cato Institute, Center for a Free Economy, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Florida TaxWatch, Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, FreedomWorks Foundation, Goldwater Institute, Hispanic Leadership Fund, Independent Women’s Law Center, 60 Plus Association, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Tax Foundation, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, and Taxpayers Protection Alliance. NTUF has estimated that at least two million Americans working remotely could be subjected to a complex new web of state taxation rules. New Hampshirites facing Massachusetts tax obligations have no other means of seeking protection from this overreach, which is why the NTUF-led coalition is asking the Court to grant the motion for New Hampshire.
To discuss the case with NTUF’s Joe Bishop-Henchman, please contact Kevin Glass, NTUF Vice President of Communications, at 703-299-8670 or at kglass@ntu.org.