2.620 Employer Wellness Program Credit

The 2012 Health Care Act established an Employer Wellness Program Tax Credit effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2013 and which expired on December 31, 2017. The tax credit was created to provide incentives for business to recognize the benefits of wellness programs with the goal of providing smaller businesses with an expanded opportunity to implement these programs. The credit, available to both personal income taxpayers and corporate & business excise taxpayers,
was set at 25 percent of the costs associated with implementing a "certified wellness program." The maximum amount of credits available to a taxpayer was $10,000 in any tax year. The credit was neither refundable nor transferrable. However, the portion of the tax credit that exceeded the tax for the taxable year was allowed to be carried forward and applied against the taxpayer's tax liability in any of the succeeding 5 taxable years. The Department of Public Health has promulgated a regulation, 105 CMR 216.000, entitled Massachusetts Wellness Tax Credit Incentive, which set forth criteria for authorizing and certifying the credit.
This credit has expired and is no longer available to employers for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. However, certain unused credits previously granted to personal income or corporate excise taxpayers remain available to be claimed against their tax liability incurred during tax years up until the period beginning on January 1, 2023.

Origin: St. 2012, c. 224, §§41, 41A, 56, 56A, 238, 239, 297, and 298; M.G.L. c. 63, §38FF