🤑 A sigh of (tax) relief

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

🚨 PSA: Noah Kahan added an extra show to his “We’ll All Be Here Forever” tour stop at Fenway Park next July. If you have a presale code, you’ll be able to pick between both dates today at 10 a.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday. Ready. Set. GO!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Cambridge could cure cancer

• $20 train to NYC

• There’s always a Mass. connection

Up first …

POLITICS

Tax relief takes a big step

It only took two years, but we finally have a tax relief bill. Lawmakers will start voting today on a $1 billion tax package that would boost savings for families, seniors, and renters, while still throwing a bone to the state’s most rich and powerful.

Here’s how it could impact you:

🏠 Renters and seniors could claim a little extra. It won’t lower the cost of your rent, but under this package, renters would be able to deduct $4,000, up from $3,000. Seniors over 65 who own a home or rent an apartment get their tax credit doubled from $1,200 to $2,400.

👪 There’s a little extra dough for children and dependents. The bill combines two existing tax credits for child care and dependent care, allowing taxpayers to claim $310 per dependent in the first year, then jumping to $440 in the second. Although Gov. Healey originally asked for $600 per dependent, officials said it’s the most generous universal child and dependent tax credit in the country.

📈 Your rich friends made out OK. Business leaders who have long lobbied for reforming the state’s capital gains tax finally got what they wished for, or at least close to it. The bill would cut the tax rate on short-term capital gains from 12% to 8.5%, a more modest cut than what Healey and the House originally pushed for (5%), but still reasonable given the Senate didn’t include any cuts in their original proposal.

💰 If you have an inheritance, you bagged a W, too. The Mass. estate tax is currently considered one of the nation’s strictest, but this package ups the threshold from $1 million to $2 million. Plus, they’re offering a near $100,000 tax credit that would offset the “cliff effect” that happens since the whole estate is taxed once it hits the threshold, not just the amount over it.

🤑 That random tax refund you got last year could change. You can thank Chapter 62F, a law requiring the state to return excess revenue back to taxpayers if they collect over a certain cap, for that extra tax refund last year. Under current rules, the money is returned on a “proportional basis,” meaning if you paid more in taxes, you got a bigger refund. But the new bill adjusts the credit so that all taxpayers receive an equal amount.

💑 And legislators are trying to close a millionaire’s tax loophole. There’s talk of married couples trying to weasel their way out of paying the new millionaire’s tax (a 4% surtax on annual income over $1 million) by filing their state taxes separately. But this bill would require all married couples who file joint returns federally to also file jointly at the state level.

QUICK QUESTION!

👀 Do you think Mass. taxes are too high?

TOGETHER WITH MFA BOSTON

🎨  The perfect way to end to a long week

The MFA’s First Fridays are back — and the popular gatherings are the perfect opportunity to meet new people, enjoy art-inspired cocktails and tapas, and experience an inside look at the Museum’s newest exhibition of contemporary art. The series kicks off Friday, Nov. 3 to celebrate “Tender Loving Care,” with a curator-led tour and music from DJ L’duke.

First Fridays sell out fast, so grab your tickets today ($27, free for members)!

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🧠 Cambridge might be the place that figures out a cure for cancer. The Biden admin just created a new health research agency called Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H, for short) as a way to accelerate breakthroughs for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. Cambridge will be the site of the agency’s investor “catalyst hub,” working with scientists and entrepreneurs to fast-track research into actual medicine and technology. It’s a big win for Mass., and a testament to the city’s powerful life sciences scene.

💵 We’re one step closer to pay transparency in Mass. Future conversations of “how much do you make?” could get a little less awkward. House Democrats are planning to bring forward legislation this fall that would require Mass. employers with at least 25 employees to include a salary range or wage within any job listing. The bill would also require larger employers to report salary data to monitor pay disparities by race and gender. NYC passed a similar pay transparency bill last year, but employers have found ways to work around it.

🚂 You can now take the train to NYC for as little as $20. You can finally break up with Greyhound. Amtrak just announced its “Night Owl” fares on select routes along the Northeast Corridor trains, where you can travel between Boston and New York for just $20, Boston and New Haven for $15, and Boston and Providence for $5. The only catch is your train has to depart between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., hence the “Night Owl” name. Alas, it will never be as cheap as the Fung Wah Bus, but it’ll do.

🥘 Another exciting new restaurant is coming to the Seaport. ZaZibar, a new Caribbean Asian spot bringing the flavors of Grenada, is set to open on Seaport Boulevard (next to Lululemon) Oct. 10. This is the third concept from chef Olrie Roberts, the man behind the Zaz brand with restaurants in Hyde Park and Boston City Hall, as well as pop-ups around the city. ZaZibar will be the most elevated of the concepts, featuring a black and gold Roaring Twenties aesthetic, a tropical lounge patio, and a vegan-focused menu.

TOGETHER WITH MR. SWINDLE’S TRAVELING PELICULIARUM

Giveaway alert!

Enter to win a pair of tickets to the opening night of Mr. Swindle’s Traveling Peculiarium. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

ONE LAST THING

Dumb Money’s Mass. connection

Massachusetts is getting some love on the big screen.

The new star-studded film Dumb Money is out this week, and if you grew up around here, it’s basically a local version of “I Spy.”

The movie is based on Harvard alum Ben Mezrich’s book The Antisocial Network, where Keith Gill, a Brockton-native and YouTuber, used meme stock to cause a giant mess on Wall Street in 2021 (yeah, he’s the GameStop stock guy).

Gill was a star runner at Brockton High School, then later at Stonehill College (Go Hill!), so there’s plenty of Skyhawk paraphernalia on display, in addition to Pete Davidson rocking Celtics gear.

That said, the Brockton parts of the movie were shot in New Jersey. Which makes sense when you think about it because, as WBUR points out, the NJ Transit train that rumbles by in the beginning simply doesn’t pass for the MBTA because, well, “it’s working.”

You can watch the full trailer here.

🤩 Thanks for reading! I don’t think you understand, as a Stonehill alum who always has to explain where/what Stonehill is, this is my Super Bowl.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, MFA Boston, for supporting local journalism and fostering a vibrant Boston arts community.

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