Section 5 Property; exemptions
Section 5. The following property shall be exempt from taxation and the date of determination as to age, ownership or other qualifying factors required by any clause shall be July first of each year unless another meaning is clearly apparent from the context; provided, however, that any person who receives an exemption under the provisions of clause Seventeenth, Seventeenth C, Seventeenth D, Twenty-second, Twenty-second A, Twenty-second B, Twenty-second C, Twenty-second D, Twenty-second E, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-seventh A, Forty-first, Forty-first B, Forty-first C, Forty-second or Forty-third shall not receive an exemption on the same property under any other provision of this section, except clause Eighteenth or Forty-fifth.
First, Property owned by the United States so far as the taxation of such property is constitutionally prohibited, excepting property which the Congress of the United States has permitted to be subject to local taxation.
Second, Property of the commonwealth, except real estate of which the commonwealth is in possession under a mortgage for condition broken, lands in Boston known as the commonwealth flats, if leased for business purposes, lands and flats lying below high water mark in Provincetown harbor, belonging to the commonwealth and occupied by private persons by license of the department of environmental protection together with all wharves, piers and other structures which have been built thereon subsequent to the twenty-second day of May, nineteen hundred and twenty, and those which may hereafter be built on said lands and flats, in conformity with permits or licenses, buildings erected by lessees under section twenty-six of chapter seventy-five, structures erected on land in state forests, parks and reservations by persons occupying such land under authority conferred by the commissioner of environmental management, property taxable under chapter five hundred and seventy-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty, and real estate taxable under section three A.
Third, Personal property of a charitable organization, which term, as used in this clause, shall mean (1) a literary, benevolent, charitable or scientific institution or temperance society incorporated in the commonwealth, and (2) a trust for literary, benevolent, charitable, scientific or temperance purposes if it is established by a declaration of trust executed in the commonwealth or all its trustees are appointed by a court or courts in the commonwealth and if its principal literary, benevolent, charitable, scientific or temperance purposes are solely carried out within the commonwealth or its literary, benevolent, charitable, scientific or temperance purposes are principally and usually carried out within the commonwealth; and real estate owned by or held in trust for a charitable organization and occupied by it or its officers for the purposes for which it is organized or by another charitable organization or organizations or its or their officers for the purposes of such other charitable organization or organizations; and real estate purchased by a charitable organization with the purpose of removal thereto, until such removal, but not for more than two years after such purchase; provided, however, that:—
(a) If any of the income or profits of the business of the charitable organization is divided among the stockholders, the trustees or the members, or is used or appropriated for other than literary, benevolent, charitable, scientific or temperance purposes or if upon dissolution of such organization a distribution of the profits, income or assets may be made to any stockholder, trustee or member, its property shall not be exempt; and
(b) A corporation coming within the foregoing description of a charitable organization or trust established by a declaration of trust executed in the commonwealth and coming within said description of a charitable organization shall not be exempt for any year in which it omits to bring in to the assessors the list, statements and affidavit required by section twenty-nine and a true copy of the report for such year required by section eight F of chapter twelve to be filed with the division of public charities in the department of the attorney general, nor shall it be exempt for that athletic property or portion thereof for the part of the year which the assessors have determined to be utilized for other than literary, educational, benevolent, temperance, charitable, or scientific purposes in direct competition with a person engaged in the same activity and subject to the tax imposed by this chapter on properties so used. In the case of the exemption of property from tax for a part of the year, the tax imposed shall bear the same proportion to the tax which would be applicable to such property if it were subject to tax for the entire year as the time such property is employed in such use bears to the total time during which such property is available for use during the year.
(c) Real or personal property of a charitable organization occupied or used wholly or partly as or for an insane asylum, insane hospital, or institution for the insane, or principally for the treatment of mental diseases or mental disorders, shall not be exempt unless at least one fourth of all property so occupied or used, wholly or partly, on the basis of valuation thereof, and one fourth of the income of all trust and other funds and property held for the benefit of such asylum, hospital or institution and not actually occupied or used by it for such purposes, is used and expended entirely for the treatment, board, lodging or other direct benefit of indigent insane persons, or indigent persons in need of treatment for mental diseases, as resident patients, without any charge therefor to such persons either directly or indirectly, except that a charitable organization conducting an insane asylum, insane hospital or institution for the insane to which persons adjudged insane by due process of law may be committed shall be exempt from taxation on personal property and buildings so occupied or used, but shall be subject to taxation on the fair cash value of the land owned by it and used for the purposes of such asylum, hospital or institution; and
(d) Real estate acquired after May fourth, nineteen hundred and eleven, by any association or private corporation formed or incorporated for the care of the insane, shall not be exempt under paragraph (c) unless the city council of the city, or the inhabitants of the town, in which it is situated, have by vote lawfully taken consented to the acquisition of such real estate, to be so exempt; nor shall real estate of a trust coming within the foregoing description of a charitable organization, if occupied or used wholly or partly as or for an insane asylum, insane hospital, or institution for the insane, or principally for the treatment of mental diseases or mental disorders, be exempt under paragraph (c) unless the city council of the city, or the inhabitants of the town, in which it is situated, have by vote lawfully taken consented to such exemption; and
(e) Real and personal property of an educational institution coming within the foregoing description of a charitable organization which is occupied or used wholly or principally as residences for officers of such institutions and which is not part of or contiguous to real estate which is the principal location of such institution shall not be exempt.
In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this paragraph, the provisions of subsection (c) shall not apply to any charitable non-residential mental health facility, organized under chapter one hundred and eighty which provides clinical, therapeutic, diagnostic and counseling services to persons with mental disorders.
Fourth, That portion of the real estate and buildings of incorporated horticultural societies used for their offices, libraries and buildings.
Fourth A, Real and personal estate of incorporated agricultural societies; provided, that if the whole or any part of any such real estate is used for other than agricultural exhibition purposes and if the society derives any income from such use, such real estate, or part, as the case may be, shall not be exempt; and provided further, that if such society has not held an agricultural exhibition on such land for a period of three years or more, such real estate shall not be exempt.
Fifth, The real and personal estate belonging to or held in trust for the benefit of incorporated organizations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, to the extent of two hundred thousand dollars, if actually used and occupied by such association, and if the net income from said property is used for charitable purposes; but it shall not be exempt for any year in which such association or the trustees holding for the benefit of such association wilfully omit to bring in to the assessors the list and statement required by section twenty-nine.
Fifth A, The real and personal estate belonging to or held in trust for the benefit of incorporated organizations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, to the extent of four hundred thousand dollars, if actually used and occupied by such association, and if the net income from said property is used for charitable purposes; but it shall not be exempt for any year in which such association or the trustees holding for the benefit of such association wilfully omit to bring into the assessors the list and statement required by section twenty-nine. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In those cities and towns which accept the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clause Fifth shall not be applicable; provided, however, that the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town an amount equal to the reimbursement, if any, granted to such city or town under said clause Fifth for the most recent fiscal year in which it received such reimbursement.
Fifth B, The real and personal estate belonging to or held in trust for the benefit of incorporated organizations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, to the extent of seven hundred thousand dollars, if used and occupied by such association, and if the net income from said property is used for charitable purposes; provided, however, that such estate shall not be exempt for any year in which such association or the trustees holding for the benefit of such association wilfully omit to file with the assessors the list and statement required by section twenty-nine. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In a city or town which accepts the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clause Fifth and Fifth A shall not be applicable.
Fifth C, The real and personal estate belonging to or held in trust for the benefit of incorporated organizations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, to the extent of $1,500,000, if used and occupied by such association, and if the net income from the property is used for charitable purposes, but the estate shall not be exempt for any year in which the association, or the trustees holding for the benefit of the association, willfully fails to file with the assessors the list and statement required by section 29. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In a city or town which accepts this clause, clauses Fifth, Fifth A and Fifth B shall not be applicable.
Sixth, Real estate owned by or held in trust for a regiment, corps, company or other organized unit of the volunteer militia and used exclusively for military purposes, and tangible personal property owned by such an organized unit of the volunteer militia and used by it or its members exclusively for military purposes, for any year in which the trustee or a competent officer of the organization owning such property brings in to the assessors the list and statement required by section twenty-nine.
Seventh, Personal property of a fraternal society, order or association, operating under the lodge system or for the exclusive benefit of the members of a fraternity itself operating under the lodge system, and providing life, sick, accident or other benefits for the members of such society, order or association, or their dependents.
Eighth, Personal property of any retirement association exempted by section nineteen of chapter thirty-two.
Ninth, Property of any annuity, pension or endowment association exempted by section forty-one of said chapter.
Tenth, Personal property owned by or held in trust within the commonwealth for religious organizations, whether or not incorporated, if the principal or income is used or appropriated for religious, benevolent or charitable purposes.
Eleventh, Notwithstanding the provisions of any other general or special law to the contrary, houses of religious worship owned by, or held in trust for the use of, any religious organization, and the pews and furniture and each parsonage so owned, or held in irrevocable trust, for the exclusive benefit of the religious organizations, and including the official residences occupied by district superintendents of the United Methodist Church and the Christian and Missionary Alliance and of the Church of the Nazarene, and by district executives of the Southern New England District of the Assemblies of God, Inc., Unitarian-Universalist Churches and the Baptist General Conference of New England, and the official residence occupied by the president of the New England Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, Inc., and the official residence occupied by a person who has been designated by the congregation of a Hebrew Synagogue or Temple as the rabbi thereof, but such exemption shall not, except as herein provided, extend to any portion of any such house of religious worship appropriated for purposes other than religious worship or instruction. The occasional or incidental use of such property by an organization exempt from taxation under the provisions of 26 USC Sec. 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code shall not be deemed to be an appropriation for purposes other than religious worship or instruction.
Twelfth, Cemeteries, tombs and rights of burial, so long as dedicated to the burial of the dead, and buildings owned by religious nonprofit corporations and used exclusively in the administration of such cemeteries, tombs and rights of burial.
Thirteenth, Personal property held by cities, towns, religious societies and cemeteries, whether incorporated or unincorporated, or by the commonwealth or by any corporation, for the perpetual care of graves, cemetery lots and cemeteries, for the placing of flowers upon graves, for the care or renewal of gravestones, monuments or tombs, and for the care and maintenance of burial chapels; but this exemption shall not apply to any such personal property held by a cemetery corporation which distributes any of the income or profits of its business among its stockholders or members, nor shall such property be exempt for any year in which the holder thereof, other than the state treasurer, omits to bring in to the assessors the list and statement required by section twenty-nine.
Fourteenth, Any real or personal property of a water company whose charter exempts such property from taxation, but not of any other water company unless exempted by clause sixteenth.
Fifteenth, Property other than real estate owned by a credit union incorporated under chapter one hundred and seventy-one; also the capital stock thereof.
Sixteenth, (1) In the case of (a) a Massachusetts savings bank, (b) a Massachusetts co-operative bank, (c) a Massachusetts corporation subject to taxation under chapter sixty-three other than a corporation mentioned in either paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of this clause, or (d) a foreign corporation subject to taxation under section twenty, twenty-three, fifty-two A or fifty-eight of said chapter sixty-three, all property owned by such bank or corporation other than the following:—real estate, poles, underground conduits, wires and pipes, and machinery used in manufacture or in supplying or distributing water; provided, that in the case of a foreign corporation subject to taxation under said section twenty or said section twenty-three, the laws of the state of incorporation, or, in the case of a foreign corporation of another nation, the laws of the state where it has elected to establish its principal office in the United States, grant similar exemption from taxation of tangible property owned by like corporations organized under or created by the laws of the commonwealth.
(1A) Underground wires, conduits and appurtenant equipment installed in accordance with the provisions of an ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-two C or section twenty-two D of chapter one hundred and sixty-six to the extent of seventy-five per cent of the value thereof.
[Paragraph (2) of clause Sixteenth effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. See 2008, 173, Sec. 101.]
(2) In the case of a business corporation subject to tax under section 39 of chapter 63 that is not a manufacturing corporation, all property owned by the corporation other than the following:— real estate, poles, underground conduits, wires and pipes, and machinery used in the conduct of the business, which term, as used in this clause, shall not be considered to include stock in trade or any personal property directly used in connection with dry cleaning or laundering processes or in the refrigeration of goods or in the air-conditioning of premises or in any purchasing, selling, accounting or administrative function.
[Paragraph (3) of clause Sixteenth effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. See 2008, 173, Sec. 101.]
(3) In the case of a manufacturing corporation or a research and development corporation as defined in section 42B of chapter 63, all property owned by such corporation other than the following:—real estate, poles and underground conduits, wires and pipes; provided, however, that no property, except property entitled to a pollution control abatement pursuant to the provisions of the forty-fourth clause or a cogeneration facility as defined herein, shall be exempt from taxation if it is used in the manufacture or generation of electricity and it has not received a manufacturing classification effective on or before January 1, 1996. For the purposes of this section, a cogeneration facility shall be defined as any electrical generating unit having power production capacity which, together with any other power generation facilities located at the same site, is not greater than 30 megawatts and which produces electric energy and steam or other form of useful energy utilized for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes. This clause, as it applies to a research and development corporation as defined in section 42B of said chapter 63, shall take effect only upon its acceptance by any city or town.
(4) Exemption under this clause shall not extend to a corporation subject to section 15.01 of subdivision A of Part 15 of chapter 156D, if the corporation has failed to deliver the certificate required by section 15.03 of said subdivision A of said Part 15 of said chapter 156D.
[Paragraph (5) of clause Sixteenth effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. See 2008, 173, Sec. 101.]
(5) The classification by the commissioner or the appellate tax board of a corporation as a business corporation or a manufacturing corporation, as respectively defined as aforesaid, shall be followed in the assessment under this chapter of machinery used in the conduct of the business.
Seventeenth, Real estate, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of a surviving spouse or of any minor whose parent is deceased, occupied by such spouse, or minor as her or his domicile, or a person or persons over the age of seventy who has owned and occupied it as a domicile for not less than ten years; provided, that the whole estate, real and personal, of such spouse, person or minor does not exceed in value the sum of twenty thousand dollars, exclusive of property otherwise exempt under clauses Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-first and exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest held by persons other than the person or persons to be exempted in such mortgaged real estate as may be included in such whole estate. No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to such spouse, person or minor to evade taxation. A spouse, person or minor aggrieved by any such judgment may appeal to the county commissioners or to the appellate tax board within the time and in such manner allowed by section sixty-four or sixty-five, as the case may be. Where the whole estate, real and personal, of such spouse, person or minor exceeds in value the sum of eight thousand dollars, exclusive of property otherwise exempt as aforesaid and exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest as aforesaid, this exemption shall be borne by the commonwealth, and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected. Any exemption under this clause, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due may be apportioned among the persons whose title to the real estate was acquired under the provisions of section three of chapter one hundred and ninety and who qualify for an exemption under this clause.
[There is no clause Seventeenth A or Seventeenth B.]
Seventeenth C, Real estate, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of a surviving spouse or of any minor whose parent is deceased, occupied by such spouse, or minor as her or his domicile, or a person or persons over the age of seventy who has owned and occupied it as a domicile for not less than ten years; provided, that the whole estate, real and personal, of such spouse, person or minor does not exceed in value the sum of forty thousand dollars, exclusive of property otherwise exempt under clauses Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-first, exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest held by persons other than the person or persons to be exempted in such mortgaged real estate as may be included in such whole estate and exclusive of the first sixty thousand dollars in value of real estate occupied by such person as his domicile. No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to such spouse, person or minor to evade taxation. A spouse, person or minor aggrieved by any such judgment may appeal to the county commissioners or to the appellate tax board within the time and in such manner allowed by section sixty-four or sixty-five, as the case may be. Any exemption under this clause, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due may be apportioned among the persons whose title to the real estate was acquired under the provisions of section three of chapter one hundred and ninety and who qualify for an exemption under this clause. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In those cities and towns which accept the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clause Seventeenth shall not be applicable; provided, however, that the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town an amount equal to the reimbursement granted to such city or town under said clause Seventeenth for the most recent fiscal year in which it received such reimbursement.
Seventeenth C1/2. Real estate, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of a surviving spouse or of any minor whose parent is deceased, occupied by such spouse, or minor as her or his domicile, or a person or persons over the age of seventy who has owned and occupied it as a domicile for not less than ten years; provided, however, that the whole estate, real and personal of such spouse, person or minor does not exceed in value the sum of forty thousand dollars, exclusive of property otherwise exempt under clauses Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-first, exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest held by persons other than the person or persons to be exempted in such mortgaged real estate as may be included in such whole estate and exclusive of the first one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in value of real estate occupied by such person as his domicile. No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to such spouse, person or minor to evade taxation. A spouse, person or minor aggrieved by any such judgment may appeal to the county commissioners or to the appellate tax board within the time and in such manner allowed by section sixty-four or sixty-five, as the case may be. Any exemption under this clause, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due may be apportioned among the persons whose title to the real estate was acquired under the provisions of section three of chapter one hundred and ninety and who qualify for an exemption under this clause. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In those cities and towns which accept the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clause Seventeenth shall not be applicable; provided, however, that the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town an amount equal to the reimbursement granted to such city or town under said clause Seventeenth for the most recent fiscal year in which it received such reimbursement.
Seventeenth D, Real estate, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of a surviving spouse or of any minor whose parent is deceased, occupied by such spouse, or minor as her or his domicile, or a person or persons over the age of seventy who has owned and occupied it as a domicile for not less than five years; provided, that the whole estate, real and personal, of such spouse, person or minor does not exceed in value the sum of forty thousand dollars provided that the real property occupied by such person as his or her domicile shall not be included in computing the whole estate, except for any portion of said real property which produces income and exceeds two dwelling units, exclusive of property otherwise exempt under clauses Twelfth, Twentieth and Twenty-first, exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest held by persons other than the person or persons to be exempted in such mortgaged real estate as may be included in such whole estate.
No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to such spouse, person or minor to evade taxation. A spouse, person or minor aggrieved by any such judgment may appeal to the county commissioners or to the appellate tax board within the time and in such manner allowed by section sixty-four or sixty-five, as the case may be. Any exemption under this clause, to the taxable valuation of two thousand dollars or the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due may be apportioned among the persons whose title to the real estate was acquired under the provisions of section three of chapter one hundred and ninety and who qualify for an exemption under this clause. This clause shall take effect in any city or town upon its acceptance by such city or town for fiscal years commencing on or after July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-six, or for fiscal years commencing on or after such later July first as the city or town may elect. In those cities and towns which accept the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clauses Seventeenth and Seventeenth C shall not be applicable; provided, however, that the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town an amount equal to the reimbursement granted to such city or town under said clause Seventeenth for the most recent fiscal year in which it received such reimbursement.
Seventeenth E, The amount of the whole estate, real and personal, as set forth in clauses Seventeenth, Seventeenth C, Seventeenth C1/2 and Seventeenth D, shall be increased annually by an amount equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for such year. The department of revenue shall annually inform each city or town that accepts this clause of the amount of this increase. This clause shall take effect in a city or town upon its acceptance by such city or town. Acceptance of this clause by a city or town shall not increase its reimbursement by the commonwealth under this section.
Eighteenth, Any portion of the estates of persons who by reason of age, infirmity and poverty, or financial hardship resulting from a change to active military status, not including initial enlistment are in the judgment of the assessors unable to contribute fully toward the public charges.
Eighteenth A, Real property, to an amount determined as hereinafter provided, of a person who by reason of poverty, or financial hardship resulting from a change to active military status, not including initial enlistment is in the judgment of the assessors unable to contribute fully toward the public charges and which property is owned and occupied by him as his domicile or owns the same jointly with a spouse or jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not a spouse and is occupied by him as his domicile provided, that such person has been domiciled in the commonwealth for the preceding 10 years.
Any such person may, on or before December 15 of each year to which the tax relates or within 3 months after the date on which the bill or notice is first sent, whichever is later, apply to the board of assessors for an exemption of such real property from taxation during such year; provided, however, that in the case of real estate owned by a person jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not his spouse, the exemption shall not exceed that proportion of total valuation which the amount of his interest in such property bears to the whole tax due. The board of assessors may grant such exemption provided that the owner or owners of such real property have entered into a tax deferral and recovery agreement with the board of assessors on behalf of the city or town. The agreement shall provide:—
(1) that no sale or transfer of such real property may be consummated unless the taxes which would otherwise have been assessed on such portion of the real property as is so exempt have been paid, with interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum;
(2) that the total amount of such taxes due, plus interest, thereon, does not exceed 50 per cent of the owner’s proportional share of the full and fair cash value of such real property;
(3) that upon the demise of the owner of such real property, the heirs-at-law, assignees or devisees shall have first priority to said real property by paying in full the total taxes which would otherwise have been due, plus interest; provided, however, that if such heir-at-law, assignee or devisee in a surviving spouse who enters into a tax deferral and recovery agreement under this clause, payment of the taxes and interest due shall not be required during the life of such surviving spouse. Any additional taxes deferred, plus interest, on said real property under a tax deferral and recovery agreement signed by a surviving spouse shall be added to the taxes and interest which would otherwise have been due, and the payment of which has been postponed during the life of such surviving spouse, in determining the 50 per cent requirement of clause (2);
(4) that if the taxes due, plus interest, are not paid by the heir-at-law, assignee or devisee or if payment is not postponed during the life of a surviving spouse, such taxes and interest shall be recovered from the estate of the owner; and
(5) that any joint owner or mortgagee holding a mortgage on such property has given written prior approval for such agreement, which written approval shall be made a part of such agreement; and
(6) that the tax deferral and recovery agreement shall not exceed 3 tax years, that the total amount of the taxes due, plus interest, shall be paid in 5 equal payments over a 5-year period, and that the first payment shall be due 2 years after the last day of the tax deferral.
In the case of each tax deferral and recovery agreement entered into between the board of assessors and the owner or owners of such real property, the board of assessors shall forthwith cause to be recorded in the registry of deeds of the county or district in which the city or town is situated a statement of their action which shall constitute a lien upon the land covered by such agreement for such taxes as have been assessed under this chapter, plus interest as provided hereinafter.
A lien filed pursuant to this section shall be subsequent to any liens securing a reverse mortgage, excepting shared appreciation instruments. The statement shall name the owner or owners and shall include a description of the land adequate for identification. Unless such a statement is recorded the lien shall not be effective with respect to a bona fide purchaser or other transferee without actual knowledge of such lien. The filing fee for such statement shall be paid by the city or town and shall be added to and become a part of the taxes due.
In addition to the remedies provided by this clause, the recorded statement of the assessors provided for in this clause shall have the same force and effect as a valid taking for nonpayment of taxes under the provisions of section 53 of chapter 60, except that: (1) interest shall accrue at the rate provided in this clause until the conveyance of the property or the death of the person whose taxes have been deferred, after which time interest shall accrue at the rate provided in section 62 of said chapter 60; (2) no assignment of the municipality’s interest under this clause may be made pursuant to section 52 of said chapter 60; (3) no petition under section 65 of said chapter 60 to foreclose the lien may be filed before the expiration of 6 months from the conveyance of the property or the death of the person whose taxes have been deferred.
Nineteenth, Merchandise, machinery and animals owned by inhabitants of this commonwealth but situated in another state.
Twentieth, The wearing apparel, farming utensils and cash on hand of every person and the tools of his trade if a mechanic, to any amount; his household furniture and effects, including jewelry, plate, works of art, musical instruments, radios, television sets and garage or stable accessories, in storage in a public warehouse kept and maintained under chapter one hundred and five or used or commonly kept in or about the dwelling of which he is owner of record or for the use of which he is obligated to pay rent, and which is the place of his domicile; and, to an amount not exceeding a total value of ten thousand dollars, in respect to boats, fishing gear and nets owned and actually used by him in the prosecution of his business if engaged exclusively in commercial fishing; provided, that failure to comply with the provisions of sections twenty-nine and sixty-one relative to the filing of a list of his personal estate with the assessors shall not be a bar to an abatement of the tax, if any, imposed upon such personal estate.
Twenty-first, Mules, horses and neat cattle less than one year old; swine, sheep and goats less than six months old; domestic fowl not exceeding fifteen dollars in value; mules, horses, neat cattle, swine, sheep, goats and domestic fowl subject to an excise imposed by section eight A; neat cattle which are less than three years old and held for the personal use and consumption of the owner.
Twenty-second, Real estate of the following classes of persons who are legal residents of the commonwealth and who are veterans, as defined in clause Forty-third of section seven of chapter four, and whose last discharge or release from the armed forces was under other than dishonorable conditions and who were domiciled in Massachusetts for at least six months prior to entering such service, or who have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to date of filing for exemptions under this clause, hereinafter referred to in this clause as soldiers and sailors, provided such real estate is occupied in whole or in part as his domicile by such person, and provided, further that if the spouse of the soldier or sailor is also a soldier or sailor each shall receive the amount of exemption provided in this clause to the same extent as if unmarried, to the amount of two thousand dollars of assessed taxable valuation or the sum of $400, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due. No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to a soldier or sailor or to the spouse, surviving spouse, father or mother of a soldier or sailor to evade taxation.
(a) Soldiers and sailors who, as a result of disabilities contracted while in the line of duty, have a disability rating of ten per cent or more as determined by the Veterans Administration or by any branch of the armed forces. After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, no further evidence of the existence of the facts required by this clause shall be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been allowed, unless the disability rating determined by the Veterans Administration or any branch of the armed forces is reduced to less than ten per cent; provided, however, that the assessors may refuse to allow an exemption in any subsequent year if they become aware that the soldier or sailor did not satisfy all of the requisites of this clause at the time the exemption was first granted.
(b) Soldiers and sailors who served in the military or naval service of the United States in the Spanish War, in the Philippine Insurrection or in the Chinese Relief Expedition and were discharged or released in any manner other than dishonorably therefrom.
(c) Soldiers and sailors who have been awarded the decoration of the Purple Heart. No evidence of disability shall be required under this paragraph. After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this paragraph, no further evidence of the receiving of the Purple Heart shall be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been so allowed.
(d) Spouses of soldiers and sailors entitled to exemption under this clause and the surviving spouse of soldiers or sailors described in this clause who at the time of their death were entitled to exemption or who lost their lives while serving in said war or in said Insurrection or said Relief Expedition, so long as they remain unmarried.
(e) Fathers and mothers of soldiers or sailors who lost their lives in such service, provided that only two thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of $400, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of the real estate of any such father or mother held jointly by them shall be exempted; provided, further, that the words “father and mother” as appearing in this paragraph, shall be construed to include natural fathers and mothers, and fathers and mothers by adoption and persons who stood in loco parentis to such soldiers and sailors.
(f) Surviving spouses of soldiers or sailors who served in the armed forces of the United States between April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen and November eleventh, nineteen hundred and eighteen, or who were awarded the World War I Victory Medal; provided such spouses have remained unmarried and have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to the date of filing for exemption under this section; and provided, further, that the whole estate, real and personal, of such spouse does not exceed in value the sum of twenty thousand dollars, exclusive of the value of the mortgage interest held by persons other than such spouse in such mortgaged real estate as may be included in such whole estate. After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, no further evidence of the existence of the facts required by this paragraph will be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been so allowed, except that the assessors may require an annual statement that such spouse has remained unmarried; provided, however, that the assessors may refuse to allow an exemption in any subsequent year if they become aware that the soldier or sailor did not satisfy all of the requisites of this clause at the time the exemption was first granted.
(g) For the purposes of this clause, $2,000.00 of this exemption or up to the sum of $175.00, whichever basis is applicable shall be borne by the city or town; the balance, up to the sum of $225 shall be borne by the commonwealth.
Twenty-second A, Real estate of soldiers and sailors and their spouses who are legal residents of the commonwealth and who are veterans, as defined in clause forty-three of section seven of chapter four and whose last discharge or release from the armed forces was under other than dishonorable conditions, and who were domiciled in Massachusetts for at least six months prior to entering such service or who have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to date of filing for exemption under this clause, who according to the records of the Veterans Administration or of any branch of the armed forces of the United States by reason of injury received or disease contracted while in such service and in the line of duty, lost or have suffered permanent loss of use of one foot at or above the ankle or lost or have suffered permanent loss of use of one hand at or above the wrist, or who according to the records of the Veterans Administration by reason of injury received or disease contracted while in such service, is receiving a statutory award from the Veterans Administration for such loss or loss of sight of one eye, or who have been awarded the congressional medal of honor, the distinguished service cross, the navy cross or the air force cross, to the amount of four thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of $750 whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount, of actual taxes due, in the case of each person, provided that such real estate is occupied as his domicile by such person, and provided, further, that if said property be greater than a single family house, then only that value of so much of said house as is occupied by said person as his domicile or a proportionate part of $750, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, shall be exempted. After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, no further evidence of the existence of the facts required by this clause shall be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been granted; provided, however, that the assessors may refuse to grant an exemption in any subsequent year if they become aware that the soldier or sailor did not satisfy all of the requisites of this clause at the time the exemption was first granted. An exemption under this clause shall continue unchanged for the benefit of the surviving spouse after the death of such disabled veteran as long as the surviving spouse of the qualified veteran shall remain an owner and occupant of a domicile subject to the exemption.
Two thousand dollars of this exemption or up to the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever basis is applicable shall be borne by the city or town; the balance, up to two thousand dollars of exemption or up to the sum of $575, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the commonwealth; and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected on account of this balance.
Twenty-second B, Real estate of soldiers and sailors and their spouses who are legal residents of the commonwealth and who are veterans, as defined in clause forty-three of section seven of chapter four, and whose last discharge or release from the armed forces was under other than dishonorable conditions, and who were domiciled in Massachusetts for at least six months prior to entering such service, or who have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to the date of filing for exemption under this clause, who according to the records of the Veterans Administration or of any branch of the armed forces by reason of such service in the armed forces of the United States have suffered in the line of duty the loss or permanent loss of use of both feet at or above the ankle, or loss or permanent loss of use of both hands at or above the wrist or loss or permanent loss of use of one foot at or above the ankle and one hand at or above the wrist, or the loss of sight of both eyes as prescribed and certified by the Veterans Administration to the amount of eight thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of $1,250, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, provided, that such real estate is occupied as his domicile by such person, and provided, further, that if said property be greater than a single family house then only that value of so much of said house as is occupied by said person as his domicile or a proportionate part of $1,250 whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, shall be exempted. An exemption under this clause shall continue unchanged for the benefit of the surviving spouse after the death of such disabled veteran, as long as the surviving spouse of the qualified veteran shall remain an owner and occupant of a domicile subject to the exemption.
After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, no further evidence of the existence of the facts required by this clause shall be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been so allowed; provided, however, that the assessors may refuse to allow an exemption in any subsequent year if they become aware that the soldier or sailor did not satisfy all of the requisites of this clause at the time the exemption was first granted.
Two thousand dollars of this exemption or up to the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the city or town; the balance up to six thousand dollars of exemption or up to the sum of $1,075, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the commonwealth; and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected on account of this balance.
Twenty-second C, Real estate of soldiers and sailors and their spouses who are legal residents of the commonwealth who are veterans, as defined in clause forty-three of section seven of chapter four, and whose last discharge or release from the armed forces was under other than dishonorable conditions, and who were domiciled in Massachusetts for at least six months prior to entering such service, or who have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to date of filing for exemption under this clause, and who according to the records of the Veterans Administration by reason of such service in the armed forces of the United States have suffered in the line of duty permanent and total disability, and who by reason of such disability have received assistance in acquiring “specially adapted housing” under laws administered by the Veterans Administration to the amount of ten thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of $1,500, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, provided, that such real estate is occupied as his domicile by such person, and provided, further, that if said property be greater than a single family house then only that value of so much of said house as is occupied by said person as his domicile or a proportionate part of $1,500, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, shall be exempted. An exemption under this clause shall continue unchanged for the benefit of the surviving spouse after the death of such a disabled veteran, as long as the surviving spouse of the qualified veteran shall remain an owner and occupant of a domicile subject to the exemption.
After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, no further evidence of the existence of the facts required by this clause shall be required in any subsequent year in the city or town in which the exemption has been so allowed; provided, however, that the assessors may refuse to allow an exemption in any subsequent year if they become aware that the soldier or sailor did not satisfy all of the requisites of this clause at the time the exemption was first granted.
Two thousand dollars of this exemption or up to the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the city or town; the balance up to eight thousand dollars of exemption or up to the sum of $1,325, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the commonwealth; and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected on account of this balance.
[Clause Twenty-second D applicable as provided by 2006, 260, Sec. 17.]
Twenty-second D, Real estate to the full amount of the taxable valuation of real property of the surviving spouses of soldiers and sailors and members of the National Guard whose death occurred as a proximate result of an injury sustained or disease contracted in a combat zone, or who are missing in action with a presumptive finding of death, as a result of combat as members of the armed forces of the United States, if the real estate is occupied by the surviving spouse as a domicile, and if the surviving spouse has been domiciled in the commonwealth for 5 consecutive years next before the date for filing for exemption under this clause or the soldier or sailor or member of the National Guard was domiciled in Massachusetts for at least 6 months before entering service.
Such exemption shall be available until such time that the surviving spouse dies or remarries; provided, however, that in no case shall the abatement amount exceed the sum of $2,500 in any fiscal year following the fifth fiscal year of receipt of the abatement.
No real estate shall be so exempt which has been conveyed to the surviving spouse to evade taxation. The amount of the exemption shall be borne by the commonwealth, and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected for this exemption.
Twenty-second E, Real estate of soldiers and sailors and their spouses who are legal residents of the commonwealth and who are veterans as defined in clause forty-three of section seven of chapter four, and who, as a result of disabilities contracted while in such service and in the line of duty, have a disability rating of one hundred per cent as determined by the Veterans Administration and are incapable of working, and who were domiciled in the commonwealth for at least six months prior to entering such service, or who have resided in the commonwealth for five consecutive years next prior to date of filing for exemption under this clause, to the amount of six thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of $1,000, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, provided, that such real estate is occupied as his domicile by such person; and provided further, that if said property be greater than a single-family house, then only that value of so much of said house as is occupied by said person as his domicile or a proportionate part of $1,000, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, shall be exempted. An exemption under this clause shall continue unchanged for the benefit of the surviving spouse after the death of such disabled veteran as long as the surviving spouse of the qualified veteran shall remain an owner and occupant of a domicile subject to the exemption.
After the assessors have allowed an exemption under this clause, the assessors shall require an annual statement certifying that the disability rating as determined by the Veterans Administration has not been reduced to less than one hundred per cent.
No real estate shall be so exempt which the assessors shall adjudge has been conveyed to such soldier or sailor to evade taxation.
Two thousand dollars of this exemption or up to the sum of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the city or town; the balance, up to four thousand dollars of exemption or up to the sum of $825, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the commonwealth; and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected on account of this balance.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, in any city or town which accepts the provisions of this paragraph, said exemptions available under clauses twenty-second, twenty-second A, twenty-second B, twenty-second C, twenty-second D and twenty-second E may be granted to otherwise eligible persons who have resided in the commonwealth for one year prior to the date of filing for exemptions under the applicable clause.
[There is no clause Twenty-third.]
Twenty-fourth, All intangible personal property.
[There is no clause Twenty-fifth.]
Twenty-sixth, Land classified under chapter sixty-one, except from the taxes provided for in said chapter.
[There are no clauses Twenty-seventh to Thirty-fourth.]
Thirty-fifth, Motor vehicles and trailers subject to taxation or exempted from taxation under the provisions of chapter sixty A, irrespective of the date of registration thereof under chapter ninety.
Thirty-sixth, Manufactured homes located in manufactured housing communities subject to the monthly license fee provided for under section thirty-two G of chapter one hundred and forty and mobile homes deemed, by section 514 of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended, not to be located or present in or have a situs in such city or town for the purposes of taxation in respect to personal property, and for the purposes of this clause, a manufactured or mobile home shall include, but not be limited to, normal repairs and domiciliary additions and that repairs and domiciliary additions shall include, but not be limited to, repair or replacement of existing masonry, addition or replacement of new ceiling, wall floor surfacing, air conditioning installation or any domiciliary attachment.
Thirty-seventh, Real property, to the amount of five thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property, or the sum of four hundred and thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of actual taxes due, of a blind person who is a legal resident of the commonwealth, whether such property is owned by him separately or jointly or as a tenant in common; provided, that such property is occupied by such person as his domicile. No real property shall be so exempt which has been conveyed to such blind person to evade taxation.
Four thousand dollars of this exemption or the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the city or town, the balance up to one thousand dollars of exemption or eighty-seven dollars and fifty cents, whichever basis is applicable, shall be borne by the commonwealth; and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount of the tax which otherwise would have been collected on account of this balance.
Thirty-seventh A, The sum of five hundred dollars of the actual taxes due, of a blind person who is a legal resident of the commonwealth, whether such property is owned by him separately or jointly or as a tenant in common; provided, that such property is occupied by such person as his domicile. No real property shall be exempt which has been conveyed to such blind person to evade taxation. This clause shall take effect upon its acceptance by any city or town. In those cities and towns which accept the provisions of this clause, the provisions of clause thirty-seventh shall not be applicable; provided, however, the sum of eighty-seven dollars and fifty cents of this exemption shall be borne by the commonwealth, and the state treasurer shall annually reimburse the city or town for the amount thereof.
Thirty-eighth, In determining the valuation, for city and town tax purposes, of any privately owned airport, the value of any improvements on or to the landing area shall not be included, so long as the owner grants free use of said landing area to the general public for the landing, taking off and taxiing of aircraft; provided, said airport meets the minimum requirements set forth by the Massachusetts aeronautics commission in rules and regulations issued under section thirty-nine, chapter ninety, and is certified by the Massachusetts aeronautics commission to be included within the needs of civil aeronautics as established by the state airport plan prepared under section thirty-nine A of chapter ninety, and is approved for commercial operation by the Massachusetts aeronautics commission.
[There is no clause Thirty-ninth.]
Fortieth, Air-raid, bomb or fall-out shelters constructed under standards established by the Massachusetts emergency management agency of the commonwealth or the United States in or in connection with residential dwellings so long as such shelters shall be used exclusively for air-raid, bomb or fall-out protection.
Forty-first, Real property, to the amount of four thousand dollars of the taxable valuation of real property or the sum of five hundred dollars, whichever would amount in an abatement of the greater amount of taxes due, of a person who has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an abatement is sought and occupied by said person as his domicile, or of a person who owns the same jointly with his spouse, either of whom has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an abatement is sought and occupied by them as their domicile, or of a person who has reached his seventieth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which an abatement is sought who owns the same jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not his spouse and occupied by him as his domicile; provided; (A) that such person (1) has been domiciled in the commonwealth for the preceding ten years (2) has so owned and occupied such real property or other real property in the commonwealth for five years, or (3) is a surviving spouse who inherits such real property and has occupied such real property or other real property in the commonwealth for five years and who otherwise qualifies under this clause; (B) that such person had, in the preceding year, gross receipts from all sources of less than six thousand dollars, or, if married, combined gross receipts with his spouse of less than seven thousand dollars, provided, however, that in computing the gross receipts of an applicant under this clause ordinary business expenses and losses may be deducted, but not personal or family expenses, and provided, further, that there shall be deducted from the total amount received by the applicant under the federal social security or railroad retirement and from any annuity, pension, or retirement plan established for employees of the United States government, the government of the commonwealth, or the government of any city, town, county, or special district, included in such gross receipts, an amount equivalent to the minimum payment then payable under said federal social security law, as determined by the commissioner of revenue, to a retired worker seventy years of age or over, if the applicant is unmarried, or to a retired worker and spouse, both of whom are seventy years of age or over, if the applicant is married; and (C) that such person had a whole estate, real and personal, not in excess of seventeen thousand dollars, or if married, not in excess of twenty thousand dollars, provided that real property occupied as his domicile shall not be included in computing the whole estate except for any portion of said property which produces income, provided however that a taxpayer may, at his option, elect to include the value of real property occupied as his domicile in computing the value of his whole estate. If such real property is included in the whole estate, the value of the whole estate shall not exceed forty thousand dollars, or if married, forty-five thousand dollars. Household furnishings and property already exempt under the twelfth, twentieth, twenty-first, and thirty-fifth clauses of this section shall not be included in computing the whole estate. In the case of real estate owned by a person jointly or as a tenant in common with a person not his spouse, the amount of his exemption under this clause shall be that proportion of four thousand dollars valuation or the sum of five hundred dollars, whichever would result in an abatement of the greater amount of taxes due, which the amount of his interest in such property bears to the whole tax due; provided that no exemption shall be granted to any joint tenant or tenant in common unless the gross receipts from all sources whatsoever of each joint tenant or tenant in common is less than six thousand dollars or, if married, the combined gross receipts from all sources whatsoever of each joint tenant or tenant in common and his spouse is less than seven thousand dollars and unless the combined whole estate, real and personal, of each joint tenant or tenant in common is less than twelve thousand dollars or, if married, the combined whole estate, real and personal of each joint tenant in common and his spouse does not exceed fifteen thousand dollars; and provided, further, that no proportion of the exemption shall be denied to any applicant otherwise qualified for the reason that another joint tenant or tenant in common receives a proportion of the total exemption. In determining the total period of ownership of an applicant for exemption under this clause, the time during which the same property was owned by a husband or wife individually shall be added to the period during which such property was owned by said husband and wife jointly. Where a portion of the real property occupied as a domicile of an applicant under this clause is located within a municipality other than the municipality in which the applicant is domiciled, and where the value of said property, or the taxes, assessed by the municipality in which such applicant is domiciled would result in his receiving less than the maximum exemption provided by this clause, that part of the property of such applicant within such other municipality shall be exempt to a value, or to an am