Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 63 - Taxation of Corporations
Section 38u - Credit for Cost of Qualifying Property; Life Sciences

[Text of section effective until December 31, 2028. Repealed by 2008, 130, Sec. 31. See 2008, 130, Sec. 54 as amended by 2011, 9, Sec. 25; 2013, 46, Sec. 57; and 2018, 112, Sec. 10. See also 2011, 9, Sec. 56 and 2013, 46, Sec. 87 as amended by 2018, 273, Sec. 26.]
Section 38U. (a) As used in this section, section 38V and section 38W, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—
''Life sciences'', advanced and applied sciences that expand the understanding of human physiology and have the potential to lead to medical advances or therapeutic applications including, but not limited to, agricultural biotechnology, biogenerics, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, biopharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemical synthesis, chemistry technology, diagnostics, genomics, image analysis, marine biology, marine technology, medical devices, nanotechnology, natural product pharmaceuticals, proteomics, regenerative medicine, RNA interference, stem cell research and veterinary science.
''Person'', a natural person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity.
''Taxpayer'', a life sciences company or person subject to the taxes imposed by this chapter or chapter 62, 64H or 64I.
(b) A taxpayer may, to the extent authorized pursuant to the life sciences tax incentive program established by section 5 of chapter 23I, take a credit against the taxes imposed by this chapter in an amount equal to 10 per cent of the cost of qualifying property acquired, constructed, reconstructed or erected during the taxable year and used exclusively in the commonwealth.
Qualifying property shall be tangible personal property and other tangible property including buildings and structural components of buildings acquired by purchase, as defined under section 179(d) of the Code, as amended, and in effect for the taxable year, but not including property that is taxable under chapter 60A; provided, however, that such property shall be depreciable under section 167 of the Code and shall have a useful life of 4 years or more.
With respect to property which is disposed of or ceases to be in qualified use prior to the end of the taxable year in which the credit is to be taken, the amount of the credit shall be that portion of the credit provided for in this paragraph which represents the ratio which the months of qualified use bear to the months of useful life. If property on which credit has been taken is disposed of or ceases to be in qualified use prior to the end of its useful life, the difference between the credit taken and the credit allowed for actual use must be added back as additional taxes due in the year of disposition; provided, however, if such property is disposed of or ceases to be in qualified use after it has been in qualified use for more than twelve consecutive years, it shall not be necessary to add back the credit, as provided in this paragraph. The amount of credit allowed for actual use shall be determined by multiplying the original credit by the ratio which the months of qualified use bear to the months of useful life. For the purposes of this paragraph, useful life of property shall be the same as that used by the corporation for depreciation purposes when computing federal income tax liability.
The credit allowed under this section may be taken by an eligible corporation; provided, however, that neither credit allowed by section 31A nor section 31H is taken by such corporation; and provided, further, that the credit allowed by section 38N shall not be taken except to such extent, not to exceed 2 per cent of the cost of any qualifying property.
Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the commissioner to make adjustments to a taxpayer's liability upon audit or limit any other legal remedies available to the commissioner or the commonwealth against said taxpayer.
(c) The credit allowed by this section shall not be subject to section 32C.
(d) If a taxpayer that is subject to a minimum excise under this chapter, the amount of the credit allowed by this section shall not reduce the excise to an amount less than such minimum excise.
(e) A taxpayer entitled to a credit under this section for any taxable year may, to the extent authorized pursuant to the life sciences tax incentive program established by section 5 of chapter 23I, carry over and apply to its excise for any 1 or more of the next succeeding 10 taxable years, the portion, as reduced from year to year, of those credits which were not allowed by subsection (c) or which exceed the excise for the taxable year.
(f) For corporations filing a combined return of income under section 32B, a credit generated by an individual member corporation under this section shall first be applied against the separately determined excise attributable to that member, subject to the limitations of subsection (d). A member corporation with an excess credit may apply its excess credit against the excise of another group member, to the extent that such other member corporation may use additional credits under the limitation of paragraph (d). Unused, unexpired credits generated by member corporations shall be carried over from year to year by the individual corporation that generated the credit.
(g) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations necessary to implement this section. Said regulations may provide for the adjustment of intercompany prices and elimination of intercompany transactions to ensure that all amounts upon which the credit is based reasonably reflect fair market value and shall include provisions to prevent the generation of multiple credits with respect to the same property.
(h) If a credit allowed to a taxpayer under this section, or such credit as may be allowed under section 38N of this chapter as limited in this subsection, exceeds the excise otherwise due under this chapter, 90 per cent of the balance of such credit may, at the option of the taxpayer and to the extent authorized pursuant to the life sciences tax incentive program established by section 5 of chapter 23I, be refundable to the taxpayer for the taxable year in which qualified property giving rise to that credit is placed in service. If such credit balance is refunded to the taxpayer, the credit carryover provisions of subsection (e) and said section 38N shall not apply.

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