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H 3028

Bond release

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by William Bailey and 4 co-sponsors

Creates a Friends and Family Rate for hotel rooms rented to employees and their relatives or friends, with occupancy excise based solely on the operator-set rate.

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Wetmore
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Bill Summary · H 3028

Summary — H.3028: "An Act establishing a friends and family rate"

Purpose / Intent

H.3028 would allow hotel and motel operators in Massachusetts to designate rooms rented to their employees (and relatives/friends of employees) at an operator‑determined "friends and family rate," and to base the room occupancy excise for those particular rentals on that operator‑determined rate rather than on the otherwise applicable excise basis. The stated intent is to formalize a discounted “friends and family” lodging rate and clarify how the room occupancy excise is applied to those transactions.

Key provisions

  • Amends Chapter 64G (room occupancy excise):
    • Adds a “Friends and Family Rate” concept after the reference to “the commissioner of revenue,” defining it as rooms rented to employees of a hotel/motel operator and to relatives and friends of those employees, at a rate determined by the operator.
    • Adds language to the excise section indicating that the excise for rooms rented under a friends and family rate “shall be based solely on the rate determined by the operator,” inserted after the existing phrase “$15 per day or its equivalent.”
  • The bill does not set a maximum or minimum friends & family price; it leaves the operator to determine the rate. It does not explicitly add enforcement mechanisms, documentation requirements, or caps on how low an operator may set the rate.

Who would be affected

  • Hotel and motel operators: would have clearer statutory authority to set discounted internal rates for employees and their relatives/friends and to report excise tax on that discounted base.
  • Employees and their relatives/friends: could receive discounted lodging under a formalized rate class.
  • Municipalities and state revenue bodies (Commissioner of Revenue): could see reduced room occupancy excise receipts for rentals reported under this friends & family rate; the Commissioner would administer and interpret the revised statute.
  • Tax administration and compliance staff: may face new questions about documentation, audits, and potential abuse of the discounted‑rate category.

Potential impacts and issues

  • Fiscal: permitting the excise to be calculated on an operator‑set discounted rate may reduce gross taxable receipts for those rooms and lower excise revenue to municipalities or the state. The magnitude depends on operator behavior and frequency of such rentals.
  • Abuse risk: without documentation or limits, operators might misuse the category to reduce tax liability on many rentals. The bill does not prescribe recordkeeping, audit standards, or anti‑abuse safeguards.
  • Administrative: tax authorities may need guidance or rules to define eligible persons, required documentation, and acceptable pricing practices.

Procedural status & timeline (as provided)

  • Prefiled: 2024‑12‑05
  • Introduced / read first time: 2025‑01‑14 (Presented by Rep. David Biele, 4th Suffolk)
  • Referred: Committee on Judiciary (1/14/2025 and 12/05/2024 entries appear in the record); later referred to Committee on Revenue (2025‑02‑27)
  • Sponsor change: Member(s) request name added as sponsor — Wetmore (2025‑02‑12)
  • Senate concurred: 2025‑02‑27 (per record)
  • Hearing scheduled: 2025‑10‑28 (01:00 PM–05:00 PM, location B‑2)

Notes

  • The bill text provided includes unrelated legislative language from a South Carolina bill concerning electronic monitoring in domestic violence cases; that material is not part of H.3028 and appears to be included in error. Only the Chapter 64G amendments described above pertain to H.3028.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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