Auditor says $2B in Mass. tax breaks unchecked

Legal News Center

Massachusetts hands out more than $2 billion in business tax breaks annually with no mechanisms for reviewing their effectiveness or recouping lost revenue if the exemptions fail to produce the desired results, an analysis by the state auditor shows.

Auditor Suzanne Bump reviewed 92 business tax breaks or credits, many dating back decades, and determined that only seven had so-called sunset clauses, automatic reviews of a law after a fixed period of time, and only 10 had clawback provisions allowing the state to get back some of the taxes if a company doesn't meet job creation goals or other benchmarks.

The tax breaks on the books containing no sunset or clawback provisions would total $2.1 billion in foregone revenue during the fiscal year starting July 1, Bump concluded. The auditor planned to present her findings Thursday at a hearing of the Legislature's Revenue Committee.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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