Massachusetts · reference

Massachusetts calendar and forms

Every Massachusetts date that matters for the 2026 return, from the last estimated payment in January 2027 to the extended due date in October, and a plain-English guide to Form 1 and the schedules an ordinary filer will meet. Where to file free, how to check a refund, and how to reach the Department of Revenue.

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax · written from Massachusetts Department of Revenue sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election · not yet reviewed by a Massachusetts practitioner

Form 1 is due April 15, 2027, the same day as the federal return, and the four estimated payments fall on the federal dates. The extension is where Massachusetts differs. It is automatic and needs no form, but only if at least 80% of the total tax for the year has been paid by April 15 through withholding, estimates or an extension payment. Pay less than 80% and there is no extension at all: the return is late from April 16, with late-filing and late-payment penalties and interest running from that day. Two other numbers are smaller than their federal cousins and catch people every year: estimated payments are required once the tax not covered by withholding will exceed $400, and the safe harbor is 80% of this year’s tax, not 90%.

The forms are numerous because Massachusetts builds its own income rather than copying a federal line. A wage earner with a bank account, a brokerage account and health insurance files Form 1, Schedule HC, Schedule B and possibly Schedule D. Commuters, students and donors add Schedule Y; seniors add Schedule CB. The table below runs through them in order.

The 2027 filing season, dated

Massachusetts dates for the 2026 return and 2027 payments
Date	What happens	Form
Friday, January 15, 2027	Fourth and final 2026 estimated payment due.	Form 1-ES or MassTaxConnect
Late January 2027; the IRS announces the date in January	The Department begins accepting 2026 returns, normally the day the IRS opens. MassTaxConnect free filing opens the same day.	Form 1, Form 1-NR/PY
Monday, February 1, 2027	Employers furnish W-2s and insurers furnish Form MA 1099-HC, the health-coverage statement Schedule HC is built from. January 31 is a Sunday.	W-2, MA 1099-HC
Thursday, April 15, 2027	Form 1 and all 2026 tax due. Last day to pay 80% and earn the automatic extension; an extension payment of $5,000 or more must be electronic. First 2027 estimated payment due.	Form 1, Form PV, Form M-4868, Form 1-ES
Tuesday, June 15, 2027	Second 2027 estimated payment due.	Form 1-ES
Wednesday, September 15, 2027	Third 2027 estimated payment due.	Form 1-ES
Friday, October 15, 2027	Extended due date for the 2026 Form 1, for anyone who paid 80% by April 15. Tax unpaid after today draws a penalty of 1% a month, up to 25%, on top of interest.	Form 1
Tuesday, January 18, 2028	Fourth 2027 estimated payment due. January 15 is a Saturday and the 17th is a holiday.	Form 1-ES
Monday, April 15, 2030	Last day to amend the 2026 return for a refund or to file Schedule CB for the 2026 Circuit Breaker: three years from the April 15, 2027 due date, without regard to extensions. April 15, 2030 is Patriots’ Day, so the next business day, Tuesday, April 16, should apply; do not wait for it.	Amended Form 1, Schedule CB
Property tax runs on a separate municipal calendar. Most cities and towns bill quarterly, with payments due August 1, November 1, February 1 and May 1 (verify locally); Schedule CB counts what was paid during calendar 2026. Local exemption applications under chapter 59 go to the assessors on their own deadlines, typically April 1 (verify locally).

How the extension really works

Since late 2016 (TIR 16-10) the Department has granted every individual an automatic six-month extension of time to file, with no request and no form, on one condition: at least 80% of the tax ultimately due for the year must be paid by the original due date. Withholding, estimated payments and an extension payment all count. Someone whose withholding already covers 80% of the year’s tax does nothing in April and files by October 15. Someone who is short pays the difference by April 15 on MassTaxConnect, or with Form M-4868, the extension payment voucher; a payment of $5,000 or more must be electronic. For someone subject to the 4% surtax, the 80% test includes the surtax.

The condition is what makes the Massachusetts extension different from the federal one. A federal Form 4868 extends the filing date even if nothing is paid. In Massachusetts a return filed in October with less than 80% paid in April is treated as if there had been no extension, and the late-filing penalty is added to the late-payment penalty and interest, all from April 15. Interest runs from April 15 on anything unpaid in either system, and tax still unpaid after October 15 draws a further 1% a month.

Worked example: two filers who both owe $6,000

Two self-employed Massachusetts filers each have $6,000 of 2026 tax and each will file on September 1, 2027. The first had $4,000 of estimated payments in during 2026 and sends $800 more on April 15. The second had $4,000 in and sends nothing in April.

	Pays $800 on April 15	Pays nothing on April 15
2026 tax	$6,000	$6,000
Paid by April 15, 2027	$4,800	$4,000
Share of the tax paid by April 15	80%	67%
Automatic extension to October 15?	Yes	No; void
Balance paid with the return on September 1	$1,200	$2,000
Late-filing penalty	None	Yes, on $2,000 from April 15
Late-payment penalty and interest	On $1,200, April 15 to September 1	On $2,000, April 15 to September 1
Difference between the two		$800 paid 4½ months later, plus a late-filing penalty on all $2,000

The $800 payment did two things: it cut the balance that draws interest, and it turned a late return into a timely one. When the estimate of the year’s tax is uncertain, round the April payment up. An overpayment comes back as a refund or is applied to 2027 estimates; a shortfall below 80% voids the extension.

Estimated payments

Estimated payments are required when the Massachusetts tax expected for the year, after withholding and credits, is more than $400. Four equal installments are due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. There is no underpayment penalty if the payments plus withholding by each installment date reach 80% of the current year’s tax, or 100% of the prior year’s tax if that return covered a full twelve months; farmers and fishermen need only two-thirds, or can pay in full by March 1. The penalty is figured on Form M-2210, which is not needed when the balance due is $400 or less. Because Massachusetts taxes private pensions and IRA withdrawals in full and withholds on them only when asked (Form M-4P), retirees drawing from a 401(k) are caught as often as the self-employed.

The forms, in the order a filer meets them

Massachusetts individual income tax forms, tax year 2026
Form	What it does	Who needs it
Form 1	The resident return. Lists exemptions on lines 2a–2d, wages and other 5% income, the Massachusetts deductions on lines 11–14, then the 5% tax, the 8.5% and 12% tax carried from Schedules B and D, the 4% surtax on line 28b, and the credits, withholding and payments. Lines 12 and 13 are reserved.	Every full-year resident with more than $8,000 of Massachusetts gross income, and anyone claiming a refund or a refundable credit
Form 1-NR/PY	The nonresident and part-year resident return. Splits income between Massachusetts and elsewhere and prorates the exemptions by the days-in-Massachusetts ratio; Schedule R/NR for someone who was both in one year.	Anyone who moved in or out in 2026, or a nonresident with Massachusetts-source income over the lesser of $8,000 or the prorated exemption
Schedule HC	Health care information: the insurer’s subscriber or member number from Form MA 1099-HC, month by month. Figures the individual mandate penalty ($26 to $211 a month in 2026 for adults above 150% of poverty without creditable coverage).	Every resident and part-year resident filer. A return without it is held.
Schedule B	Interest, dividends and short-term capital gains. Where the 8.5% rate is applied and where up to $2,000 of net capital loss offsets interest and dividends.	Anyone with interest or dividends above the small amount reported on Form 1 itself, or any short-term sale
Schedule D	Long-term capital gains and losses, from the federal Schedule D with Massachusetts differences. Collectibles at 12% after the 50% deduction.	Anyone who sold an asset held more than a year
Schedule X	Other income: alimony received, taxable IRA and Keogh distributions (with the worksheet that recovers the Massachusetts basis of IRA contributions never deducted), gambling and lottery winnings, fees and other income.	Anyone with a traditional IRA distribution or a Roth conversion; lottery winners
Schedule Y	Other deductions: alimony paid, student loan interest (federal cap or unlimited undergraduate), the charitable deduction, the commuter deduction, the college tuition deduction, the U.Fund 529 deduction, pensions from reciprocating states, gambling losses at Massachusetts venues, and more.	Renters are on Form 1 itself; everyone else with a Massachusetts-only deduction is here
Schedule CB	Senior Circuit Breaker Credit for homeowners and renters 65 or older. Refundable; maximum $2,820 for 2025, 2026 figure to come.	Residents 65+ whose property tax plus half of water and sewer, or 25% of rent, exceeds 10% of income, under the income and home-value limits
Schedule 4% Surtax	Figures the 4% on taxable income over $1,107,750; the result goes to Form 1 line 28b.	Anyone over the line; must e-file
Schedule OJC	Credit for income tax paid to another state, U.S. territory or Canadian province on income Massachusetts also taxes. Not for city taxes.	Residents who work or own property in another state
Schedules C and E	Business income and rental, royalty, partnership and S corporation income, rebuilt from the federal schedules with Massachusetts differences, chiefly no bonus depreciation.	The self-employed, landlords and owners of pass-through businesses
Form 1-ES	Estimated payment vouchers and the worksheet; payments of any amount can be made on MassTaxConnect without the voucher.	Anyone expecting to owe more than $400 after withholding
Form M-4868	Extension payment worksheet and voucher. Not an extension request; the extension is automatic if 80% is paid. Carries the April payment that gets a filer to 80%. Electronic if $5,000 or more.	Anyone filing after April 15 whose withholding and estimates are short of 80%
Form M-2210	Underpayment of estimated tax: figures the penalty or claims an exception.	Anyone who owes more than $400 with the return and did not meet the 80% / 100% safe harbor
Form PV	Payment voucher for a balance due with a paper return.	Paper filers who owe
Form EFO	Declaration of paper filing: attached when a return that could have been e-filed is filed on paper.	Paper filers
Form M-4	Employee’s withholding exemption certificate, the Massachusetts W-4. Form M-4P does the same for pensions and IRAs.	New employees; retirees who want state tax withheld from a pension or IRA
All current and draft forms are on the Department’s forms and instructions page; the draft 2026 personal income tax forms were posted in September 2026 and the 2026 Form 1 instructions had not been posted as of this writing. Massachusetts has no separate amended-return form for individuals: an amended Form 1 is a new Form 1 with the “Amended return” oval filled in.

Filing free, paying and checking a refund

MassTaxConnect, the Department’s own portal at mass.gov/masstaxconnect, files Form 1 and Form 1-NR/PY free for any full-year resident, for anyone who has filed a Massachusetts return before, and for anyone filing only to claim a Massachusetts credit. It requires an account and does not file the federal return. Six approved commercial vendors also file Massachusetts returns, several free for taxpayers who qualify. Massachusetts took part in IRS Direct File for the 2025 season; the IRS has since ended the program, and MassTaxConnect does not depend on it.

Payments of every kind go through MassTaxConnect by bank debit at no charge or by card for a fee; the “Make a Payment” link works without an account. Anyone subject to the 4% surtax must file and pay electronically. Paper returns go to Mass. DOR, PO Box 7000, Boston, MA 02204 for a refund, and PO Box 7003, Boston, MA 02204 with a payment.

Refunds take about four to six weeks e-filed with direct deposit and eight to ten weeks on paper; a paper check adds a week. The refund-status tool on MassTaxConnect needs no login, only the tax year, Social Security number and refund amount. The personal income tax line is (617) 887-6367, or (800) 392-6089 toll-free in Massachusetts, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Behind the scenes: why 80%

Until 2016 a Massachusetts filer who wanted more time filed Form M-4868 as an application, the way the federal system still works. TIR 16-10 replaced the application with a payment test: pay 80% by the due date and the extension is yours without asking. The Department gave up the paperwork and kept the money, and it chose 80% because that was already the estimated-tax safe harbor on Form M-2210, so one number now governs both the extension and the underpayment penalty. Neither the 80% nor the $400 trigger is indexed or tied to a federal figure, which is why they look small next to the federal 90% and $1,000 and why so many first-time penalties go to people who assumed the federal rules carried over.

What to bring

Form MA 1099-HC from each insurer, or the subscriber number from the insurance card, for Schedule HC
Every W-2 and 1099 with Massachusetts withholding
The 2026 estimated payments made, with dates; MassTaxConnect lists them
Last year’s Form 1, for the 100% safe harbor and any capital loss carryforward
Rent paid in 2026 and the landlord’s name and address
Brokerage 1099-B statements showing holding periods, so short-term and long-term gains land on the right schedule
For IRA withdrawals or Roth conversions: the history of contributions, for the Schedule X basis worksheet
For anyone 65 or older: property tax bills, water and sewer bills or rent paid, for Schedule CB

Questions people ask

Do I have to file anything to get the Massachusetts extension?

No, as long as 80% of your total tax for the year is paid by April 15. If you are short, pay the difference on MassTaxConnect or with Form M-4868 by April 15. If you pay less than 80%, there is no extension and the return is late.

When is the Massachusetts return due?

April 15, 2027, the same day as the federal return. The extended date is October 15, 2027.

I forgot Schedule HC. What happens?

The Department holds the return and writes to you, and the refund waits until the schedule arrives. Every resident filer must attach it, with the insurer’s subscriber or member number; a federal Form 1095 does not substitute.

Do I need to make Massachusetts estimated payments on my IRA withdrawals?

If the Massachusetts tax not covered by withholding will be more than $400, yes, or ask the IRA custodian to withhold Massachusetts tax using Form M-4P. The safe harbor is 80% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, paid in four equal installments.

How long does a Massachusetts refund take?

About four to six weeks e-filed with direct deposit, eight to ten weeks on paper, plus a week for a paper check. Check it on MassTaxConnect without logging in. Wait ten weeks before calling.

How do I amend a Massachusetts return?

File a new Form 1 for that year with the “Amended return” oval filled in, on MassTaxConnect or on paper, with the changed schedules. For a refund, the deadline is generally three years from the original due date or one year from the payment, whichever is later. If the IRS changed your federal return, Massachusetts expects to hear about it within one year.

April 15, 80% paid, Schedule HC attached

Get to 80% by April 15 and the extension takes care of itself; put the four estimated dates on the calendar if your tax after withholding will top $400.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado
Questions about this article in Massachusetts are answered by [your practice name]  ·  [your phone]  ·  [your email address]. We’re looking for an EA or CPA in each Massachusetts city to hold that city’s seat and take this spot — is that you?
Ask a question about this article →

An invitation to Massachusetts EAs and CPAs

These Massachusetts pages were written by the editor from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s own publications, and they need a Massachusetts practitioner’s eye. One enrolled agent or CPA in each Massachusetts city holds that city’s seat: reads these pages before the filing season and is credited as a reviewer, is named on every page of their city’s edition, and answers its readers’ questions. $1,000 for the 2026 season, the charter price. Take your city’s seat (a two-minute form and a card), tell us you’re interested, write to editor@needtoknowtax.com, or read how it works.

Forms and official pages named in this article

Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Massachusetts practitioner