The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand and One
-------------------------------- AN ACT TO PROMOTE THE APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES AND TECHNICAL ADVANCES TO INCREASE AUTOMOBILE FUEL EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. SECTION 6. Chapter 64H of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 2A the following new section:-
Section 2B. Notwithstanding the provisions of section two and section four of this chapter, the excise imposed upon the sale of any new passenger automobile, van, or light truck in the Commonwealth shall be at a rate between zero and ten percent of the gross receipts of the vendor for each such automobile, van, or light truck. The commissioner of energy resources shall establish annually following a hearing, a schedule of 1) size classes for such vehicle sand 2) the fuel efficiencies, within each size class, of such vehicles. The commissioner shall, for the purposes of determining size classes, rely upon size classes determined
by the federal government. The commissioner shall, for the purpose of determining the fuel efficiency for gasoline or diesel-fueled vehicles, rely upon the miles per gallon ratings for city driving as determined by the federal government. The commissioner shall establish a separate schedule for models powered by fuels other than gasoline or diesel in such a way as to minimize fuel emissions and to promote fuel or efficiency. The commissioner of revenue, after consultation with the registrar of motor vehicles and
commissioner of energy resources and after holding a public hearing, shall establish annually an excise rate schedule for all models within each size class of new passenger automobiles, vans and light trucks based upon the schedule of relative fuel efficiencies established by the commissioner of energy resources, in order to encourage the purchase of the least carbon dioxide emitting and most fuel-efficient vehicles within each size class. The model or
models that achieve the highest fuel-efficiency regardless of size class, shall be assessed at zero percent, and the model or models that achieve the least fuel-efficiency regardless of class shall be assessed at ten percent. In
setting the range of excise rates for all other models, the commissioner of revenue shall primarily consider the extent to which models vary in fuel efficiency within each size class; the commissioner may also consider the fuel
efficiency of each size class in comparison to other size classes. The commissioner shall use data on past sales patterns of vehicle models in the Commonwealth and may make such assumptions as to future consumer behavior as the
commissioner deems necessary; provided, that the commissioner shall annually adjust the excise rates so the total excise tax on sales collected for all new
passenger automobiles, vans and light trucks shall average five percent per vehicle over time.
A seller of any new passenger automobile, van or light truck in the Commonwealth shall prominently display the excise rate assigned by the commissioner for that automobile, van or light truck.
The excise tax display shall contain, across its top, in characters no smaller than one-half inch in height, the following message: "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has set the following sales tax rate for this vehicle model:".
Such statement shall be followed by the assigned excise tax rate, to be expressed as a percentage of the sales price of the vehicle, in characters no smaller than four inches in height.
Below said excise tax rate, in characters no smaller than one quarter inch in height, shall appear the following message: "This rate is based upon the fuel efficiency of this model in comparison primarily with other vehicle
models of its size class. Under Massachusetts law, the sales tax for vehicle models ranges from zero percent for the most fuel-efficient vehicles to ten percent for the least fuel efficient vehicles. See price sticker for the actual EPA mileage estimate for this vehicle."
The commissioner of energy resources shall cause periodic inspections to be made of motor vehicle dealers in order to ensure compliance with this section. Said commissioner shall also cause investigation to be made of complaints received concerning violations of this section. The commissioner shall report the results of any inspections or investigations to the attorney general. The attorney general may institute proceedings to enforce the provisions of this section. Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the provisions of chapter ninety-three A. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each offense or as provided in chapter ninety-three A, whichever is greater. Each violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense, and each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
The commissioner of revenue, after consulting with the commissioner of energy resources and the, registrar of motor vehicles, and after holding a public hearing, shall develop a methodology for determining the excise rates for vehicles covered by this section and shall, by May first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three make a report of such methodology to the ways and means committees of the house and senate of the General Court. The commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of energy resources shall monitor the effects of the excise established herein on motor vehicle sales in the Commonwealth and on revenue yields, and by December thirty-first of each year shall file with the joint committee on energy of the General Court and with the house and senate committees on ways and means reports on the status of these effects and on any recommendations which the said commissioners deem appropriate for achieving or
maintaining the goals of this program.
The provisions of this section shall take effect for all sales of new passenger automobiles, vans and light trucks occurring on or after September first nineteen hundred and ninety-five.
SECTION 7. Section 3 of said chapter 64H is hereby amended by striking out subsection C and inserting in place thereof the following:- C).The excise imposed by sections two and two A upon sales at retail of motor vehicles or
trailers shall be paid by the purchaser tot he registrar of motor vehicles in the manner prescribed by the commissioner of revenue. The vendor thereof shall not add the tax to the sales price and shall not collect the tax from the
purchaser. The vendor thereof shall, however, furnish to the purchaser, to the registrar, and to said commissioner a sworn statement of the sale upon a form prescribed by said commissioner, with the approval of the commissioner, giving
such information as the commissioner may require for the determination of such tax. Any person giving false or fraudulent information as to any material fact in the sworn statement required by this section shall be subject to a
penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation; such penalty shall be in addition to any penalty imposed by chapter sixty-two C, chapter ninety-three A, or other provisions of the General Laws. For the purpose of
this paragraph, the term motor vehicle means any self-propelled vehicle designed for use and used primarily upon the highways.
SECTION 8. The first sentence of section 4 of said chapter 64H is hereby amended by striking the word "For", in line 1, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Except for the tax imposed by section two A, for.
SECTION 9. The first sentence of section 2 of chapter 641 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 14, after the word "services" the following words:-
provided, however, that, notwithstanding the provisions of section five of this chapter, in the case of a passenger automobile, van, or light truck, the applicable rate shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of
section two A of chapter sixty-four H.
SECTION 10. Section 4 of said chapter 641 is hereby amended by adding at the end of the second paragraph, in line forty-two, the following:- Any person giving false or fraudulent information as to any material fact in the sworn statement required by this section shall be liable for a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation; such penalty is to be in addition to any penalty imposed by chapter sixty-two C, chapter ninety-three A, or other provisions of the General Laws.
SECTION 11. Motor vehicles owned and operated by the commonwealth, as they are removed from service, shall only. be replaced with vehicles that have above average fuel efficiency for new vehicles in their size classes as
determined pursuant to section two A of chapter sixty-four H or with alternative fuel vehicles as defined by the commissioner of energy resources, provided that the commissioner of energy resources has determined that such
purchases of alternative fuel vehicles are be cost effective and will result in net improvements in air quality in comparison with comparable conventional fuel vehicles. The commissioner may grant a waiver from the requirements of
this section for any vehicle that the commonwealth needs to purchase where such a waiver is necessary to protect the public safety.