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Mass. Supreme Judicial Court questions whether estate-tax penalties are "fines" under Article 26
Summary
In SJC 137908, counsel for the Estate of Caroline H. Walsh argued that formulaic, high statutory penalties for late estate-tax filing violate Article 26 as excessive fines, while the Commissioner’s attorney said statutory penalties are remedial, tied to tax loss and capped, and therefore not punitive.
The Supreme Judicial Court heard oral argument in SJC 137908, Estate of Caroline H. Walsh v. Commissioner of Revenue, over whether formulaic statutory penalties and related interest for late estate-tax filings qualify as "fines" subject to Article 26 of the Declaration of Rights.
Michael Walsh, counsel for the estate, told the court he would focus on Article 26 and argued that the mechanical penalty formula in the case produced an outcome that could be punitive and disproportionate. "It is our argument more or less on the idea that a $100,000 is a lot of money," Walsh said, urging the court to apply a proportionality standard informed by historical sources such as the Magna Carta.
Walsh acknowledged that interest alone…
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