BOSTON, May 2 -- Massachusetts Tuesday became the latest state to exempt Holocaust restitution payments from state income taxes.
California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois previously put in place legislation that allows residents of their states to exempt Holocaust settlements from such taxes.
In signing the Massachusetts bill Tuesday, Gov. Paul Cellucci said that Holocaust survivors and their families "have lived through unspeakable tragedies."
He said that while the restitution settlements "pale in comparison to what they have lost, this measure ensures that survivors can keep all of what was returned to them without being unnecessarily burdened by taxes."
The legislation exempts Holocaust survivors or their heirs from paying state taxes on any income received because they were victims of religious or racial persecution and any income derived from stolen assets, proceeds of insurance policies and other restitution or reparations arising from Holocaust persecution.
More than 50 years after the end of World War II, many banks and companies in Europe are beginning to return stolen assets to survivors of the Holocaust and their heirs.
In August 1998, two of the largest banks in Switzerland agreed to distribute $1.25 billion as restitution for assets wrongfully withheld during the Nazi reign.
In February 1999, the German government agreed to establish a fund to compensate victims of the Holocaust.
The bill signed by Cellucci permits the beneficiaries of these settlements and other similar Holocaust reparation settlements to deduct the proceeds from taxable income on their state income tax forms.
Jewish advocacy groups estimate that there are nearly 3,500 Holocaust survivors in Massachusetts who potentially qualify for restitution payments intended to compensate for stolen family heirlooms, bank accounts, and artwork that was looted by the Nazis.
"While no legislation nor compensation can ever heal the injustice done to Holocaust victims and survivors, this important act demonstrates Massachusetts' commitment to recognizing the tremendous wrong committed to these people during one of the darkest periods in human history," said Ruth Fein, a founding member of the New England Holocaust Memorial.
