If you filed state income taxes in Massachusetts in 2021, you likely received a rebate check from the state in the past few months.
The same is also true of illegal immigrants living in the Commonwealth.
That is because nothing in the law that triggered the rebate checks made being a legal resident of the Commonwealth a prerequisite for receiving a Chapter 62F check.
A NewBostonPost reporter asked a Massachusetts Department of Revenue spokesman last week if illegal immigrants received Chapter 62F rebate checks.
Here is the response the spokesman for the Department of Revenue provided NewBostonPost:
Anyone who paid personal income taxes in Massachusetts for the 2021 tax year and filed a 2021 state tax return on or before September 15, 2023, is eligible to receive a refund.
The response means that if illegal immigrants filed personal state income tax returns in the Commonwealth for tax year 2021, they were eligible for and should have received a 62F check by now.
About $3 billion went back to taxpayers under Chapter 62F of the Massachusetts General Laws after the Commonwealth took more in taxes in 2021 than a state cap allows. Bay Staters received a rebate check worth about 14 percent of the state income taxes they paid in 2021.
That law, known as Chapter 62F, surprised state legislators when it resurfaced in July 2022 after 35 years of not being a factor in state budgeting. In 1986 the state’s voters approved a referendum capping the amount of tax revenue the state government can collect relative to increases in wages and salaries in the state.
Supporters of the law say it guarantees taxpayers in Massachusetts a much-needed tax cut that voters approved years ago.
Critics of the law argue that it’s wasteful. They say it’s regressive and that the overwhelming majority of the benefits go to the ultrawealthy — and those people don’t need a new tax cut.
It is unclear how many illegal immigrants file state income taxes in Massachusetts, nor is it known how much money they got due to these rebates.
However, some illegal immigrants file state income taxes in the Commonwealth. About 209,000 illegal immigrants live in Massachusetts, according to the Migration Policy Center.
Illegal immigrants typically use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to file income taxes in the United States since they lack Social Security numbers.
NewBostonPost also reported on illegal immigrants filing state income tax returns in 2021.
At the time, NewBostonPost reported on a proposal from Massachusetts state Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) that would have provided a refundable state income tax credit to illegal immigrants who were ineligible for coronavirus stimulus checks due to their immigration status. Under the proposal, illegal immigrants would have received $1,800 for individuals or $3,600 for couples.
The proposal went nowhere in the Massachusetts legislature; the Joint Committee on Revenue sent it to a study, killing the bill.
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