Massachusetts Taxes 2026 Guide

Last updated: Oct 25, 2026. This guide reflects tax year 2026 rules and Boston’s fiscal 2026 property tax rates.

Featured image: The Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill, where state tax laws are written. Photo: Hunter Bloor via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

How much are taxes in Massachusetts, and what do Boston residents pay? The state charges a flat 5% income tax, a 4% surtax on income above about $1.1 million, a 6.25% sales tax and, through cities and towns, a property tax. This explainer covers each one, the 2023 tax relief law and the ballot measures that could change state revenue, using Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) and City of Boston figures checked on Oct. 25, 2026.

What is the Massachusetts income tax rate?

Most Massachusetts taxable income is taxed at a flat 5%. Some income is taxed differently: short-term capital gains, from assets held one year or less, are taxed at 8.5%. That rate was cut from 12% by the 2023 tax relief law, Chapter 50 of the Acts of 2023, for tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2023.

A proposed 2026 ballot question to cut the 5% rate to 4% will not appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. WBUR reported in June that the Supreme Judicial Court removed it after finding its summary misleading.

How does the millionaires tax work?

Voters approved the Fair Share Amendment in 2022, adding a 4% surtax on taxable income above a threshold that rises each year with inflation. According to DOR, the threshold is:

Tax year 2023: $1,000,000
Tax year 2024: $1,053,750
Tax year 2025: $1,083,150
Tax year 2026: $1,107,750

Only the portion above the threshold is surtaxed. A filer with $1,207,750 of 2026 taxable income would owe 5% on all of it plus 4% on the top $100,000, an extra $4,000. Revenue is dedicated to education and transportation. DOR certified that the surtax raised an estimated $477.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 alone, from July through September 2025. The state has used that money for MBTA support, as explained in our guide to why the MBTA is slow and what is being fixed.

What changed in the 2023 tax relief law?

Gov. Maura Healey signed the state’s first broad tax cuts in more than 20 years in October 2023. DOR lists these main changes:

A child and family credit of $440 per qualifying child, dependent or disabled adult for tax years beginning in 2024, up from $310 in 2023.
A higher cap on the deduction for rent paid, from $3,000 to $4,000.
No estate tax on estates of $2 million or less.
The short-term capital gains cut to 8.5%.

What is the sales tax in Massachusetts and Boston?

The state sales and use tax is 6.25% on most goods. Most grocery food is exempt, and clothing is exempt up to $175 per item, with tax charged only on the amount above that, according to DOR. Boston also adds a local meals tax of 0.75%, bringing the rate on restaurant meals to 7%. A share of the state sales tax goes to the MBTA, which expects to receive $1.445 billion from it in fiscal 2027.

How much is property tax in Boston?

For fiscal 2026, Boston’s residential tax rate is $12.40 per $1,000 of assessed value, and the commercial, industrial and personal property rate is $26.96, according to the city’s Assessing Department. The residential rate rose 7.1% from $11.58, the Boston Municipal Research Bureau reported. The Boston Globe reported that the change meant about $780 more a year for the average single-family home.

Owners who live in their homes can claim the residential exemption, worth up to $4,353.74 in fiscal 2026. Bills for the second quarter of fiscal 2027 are due Nov. 2, 2026. See our guide to paying Boston property tax bills.

Property taxes are capped by Proposition 2½, which limits annual levy growth on existing property to 2.5% plus new construction. Boston’s levy made up 71.7% of city operating revenue in fiscal 2026, according to the research bureau. Our explainer on Boston’s city budget shows where that money is spent.

What tax questions are on the 2026 ballot?

Question 5 would cap annual state revenue growth at the three-year average growth of Massachusetts wages and salaries and refund any excess to taxpayers, counting surtax revenue toward the cap. Question 6 would steer sales tax collected on sporting goods, recreational vehicles and golf courses into a conservation fund. Both would take effect July 1, 2027, if approved. Neither changes the tax rates described above. For the state’s spending side, see the Massachusetts state budget page.

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Massachusetts Taxes Explained: Income Tax, Millionaires Tax, Sales and Boston Property Tax