An Act relative to public benefit corporations

HD 979 creates a tax incentive for benefit corporations in Massachusetts that provide specific employee benefits. It offers a 1.5% lower corporate tax rate to qualifying benefit corporations that provide at least four of six listed benefits, including a "living wage" (defined as sufficient for essentials like housing and healthcare per the MIT calculator), paid parental leave, flexible spending accounts, a CEO-to-worker pay ratio under 25:1, employee cooperative governance, or profit sharing returning 10% of profits to staff. To qualify, corporations must maintain these benefits for 12 consecutive months and receive certification from the Department of Revenue. This directly affects benefit corporations operating under Chapter 156E that meet the eligibility criteria.