Boston commercial off-street parking facilities collect Massachusetts sales tax on parking fees and may face additional Massport and Convention Center surcharges; Boston has no separate citywide parking excise tax.
Massachusetts treats commercial parking as a taxable service under MGL Ch. 64H, applying the 6.25% state sales tax to fees collected by parking garages and lots. Surcharges fund the Massport authority for facilities at Logan Airport and certain harbor zones. Boston itself does not levy a discrete city parking tax in the way Pittsburgh or Chicago do; instead, parking revenue contributes to the city through commercial property taxes, BPDA linkage fees on new parking-heavy developments, and meter rates set by the Boston Transportation Department. Repeated proposals to add a Boston parking surcharge have not been adopted.
Failure to collect or remit the 6.25% state sales tax on parking exposes operators to back taxes, interest, and penalties up to 25% under MGL Ch. 62C §33; willful evasion is a felony under §73.
Boston, MA
Boston combines state, city, and convention center surcharges into a 14.45% room occupancy excise on hotels, motels, B&Bs, and qualifying short-term rentals ...
Boston, MA
Boston operates a robust Resident Parking Permit program at no cost, with neighborhood-specific permits and active enforcement by the Boston Transportation D...
See how Boston's parking tax rules stack up against other locations.
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