What exemptions apply to corporations?
Corporations are specifically taxable on networks of poles, underground conduits, wires and pipes as personal property. GL c. 59, §5, cl. 16. However, telephone and cable TV corporations may not be taxed on network poles and wires in public ways. See GL c. 59, §18, Fifth; Assessors of Springfield v. Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation, 321 Mass. 186 (1947) & Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc. v. Assessors of Everett, 396 Mass. 239 (1985). Corporations are specifically exempt from tax for all personal property that is not machinery. However, corporations are generally classified into three categories, each with a different set of specific exemptions for all or certain categories of machinery.
