Massachusetts charges 5% flat + 4% surtax >$1M state income tax. Use the tax refund estimator pre-loaded with Massachusetts rates.
Open Tax Refund Estimator →In Massachusetts, you may receive refunds at both the federal and state level. Your state refund depends on how your employer's flat 5% withholding compared to your actual Massachusetts tax liability. Common reasons for a state refund include credits, deductions, or withholding calibrated for a higher income than you actually earned. Use this estimator to project both your federal and Massachusetts state refund amounts.
Massachusetts levies a flat 5% state income tax on all taxable income regardless of how much you earn. This makes tax planning straightforward: for every additional dollar you earn, 5 cents goes to Massachusetts. Massachusetts does not impose local income taxes, so the 5% flat rate is the only state-level income tax you owe.
The table below shows what you actually keep at five salary levels in Massachusetts, accounting for federal tax, FICA, and Massachusetts's flat 5% state tax.
See how Massachusetts compares to other Northeast states. Each link takes you to the tax refund estimator landing page for that state.
For a comprehensive breakdown of Massachusetts’s tax structure, salary comparisons, cost-of-living analysis, and more, visit the full Massachusetts take-home pay page.