” A Kerry spokesman says the boat is being kept at Newport Shipyard not for tax reasons, but “for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes.”
Yeah.....all the millionaires want to charter a boat in Rhode Island as opposed to Nantucket.....
ROTFLOL!!
He was for those taxes before he was against them.
I don’t believe that’s the way it works for real folks. MA sends snoopers to ME and other New England states to identify boats belonging to MA residents, then sends them tax bills, regardless of where they are docked. If I’m a resident of MA, MA would send me a tax bill, regardless of whether I dock it in RI, or Norfolk.
Maybe he gets around it by having a PA LLC owning the boat.
” A Kerry spokesman says the boat is being kept at Newport Shipyard not for tax reasons, but “for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes.”
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Kerry wife Heinz pays no Mass. income tax
Boston Herald - Thursday, September 9, 1999
Author: Joe Battenfeld
For Teresa Heinz, wife of Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry , home may be where the heart is - but her legal residence is in the low- tax state of Pennsylvania.
Heinz, the multi-millionaire heiress of the ketchup conglomerate, has not paid a dime of Massachusetts income taxes since marrying the Democratic senator four years ago, Department of Revenue records show.
Despite owning a $3 million home on tony Beacon Hill and a summer retreat in Nantucket, Heinz instead has chosen to keep her legal residency in Pennsylvania.
That decision has potentially saved her a bundle.
Pennslyvania has one of the lowest tax rates in the nation, at 2.8 percent. That is less than half the rate in Massachusetts, which - as any frustrated taxpayer knows - is a hefty 5.95 percent.
Pennsylvania’s low rate also applies to capital gains, which is a major part of Heinz’s estimated $700 million fortune. Massachusetts has a sliding capital gains tax rate that starts at 12 percent for assets held less than a year.
Kerry this week said Heinz’ move to stay out of the clutches of the state’s tax collectors isn’t related to the tax rate - it’s because it would be too complex to move her corporate and philanthropic empire here.
“All her operations are based in Pittsburgh, all the foundations, it’s just too complicated legally (to move),” Kerry said .
But Heinz appears to be well aware of the Massachusetts’ reputation for high taxes .
Her charitable foundation last year released a report blaming housing costs and the state’s high tax burden for driving familes out of Massachusetts.
Heinz’ spokesman, Jeffrey Lewis, said Heinz commissioned the study after detecting an “undercurrent of deep concern by the average citizen” during her husband’s 1996 re-election race.
Heinz’ decision to avoid Massachusetts taxes comes with a big catch: she is legally prohibited from spending more than 182 days per year in the Bay State.
She is also prohibited from voting for her husband and other Massachusetts candidates during election years. Kerry also files taxes separately from his wife.
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