Boston City Council is considering a new law that would levy a sales tax of 2% on all property sold within the city limits. The original bill set the sales tax at 6% but the Committee on Government Operations made several amendments today. Another change made by the committee is the deletion of a 25% tax payable by the seller on the repeat transfer within 24 months or transfer of a controlling interest in a trust, LLC, or other entity that directly or indirectly holds an interest in ANY real property situated in the City of Boston.
There are some notable exceptions, chief among them being properties where the sale price is less than $2,000,000. Per MLS PIN data, that would mean 6.4% of residential transactions in the city of Boston would be affected. Initially, this exemption did NOT protect a property from the 25% tax to the seller if transferred within 24 months.
The Boston City Council is expected to vote on Wednesday, December 11th on this issue. 10 of the 13 City Council members have co-sponsored the bill. If the bill passes it would then head to the state house.
