Local News
The state collected 7.7 percent more in tax revenue this April than in April 2025, officials said.
The Massachusetts State House in Boston. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe, File
Massachusetts collected close to $7.4 billion in tax revenue in April, surpassing the amount officials expected to collect by almost $1 billion, or 14 percent, according to the state Department of Revenue.
The revenue from April 2026 surpassed the amount collected in April 2025 by $526 million, or 7.7 percent. April 2026 saw more tax revenue collected than any other single month over the past two years.
With two months left in the fiscal year, the DOR has collected about $38 billion in revenue, which is about $1.5 billion or 4 percent above the year-to-date revenue projection officials had set. The year-to-date revenue figure from April 2026 also surpasses the year-to-date figure from April 2025 by about 4 percent, according to the DOR.
April is typically the month where the state collects the most revenue, which officials say is caused by the individual tax filing season peaking and the fact that the first income tax estimated payment installment for the current tax year is due in April. The DOR collected $6.3 billion in April 2024 and $6.8 billion in April 2025.
Withholding tax collections, which come directly out of taxpayers’ paychecks, exceeded projections in April by 7 percent. DOR Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder attributed this to increases in collections from the finance and insurance industries.
The only tax revenue category that fell below expectations in April was corporate and business tax collections, which were 4.4 percent below the benchmark set by officials. Corporate and business tax collections this April were 5.7 percent less than April 2025.
The DOR has exceeded benchmark projections for tax revenue for the past four months. March collections exceeded projections by 1.5 percent, February collections exceeded them by 2.6 percent, and January collections exceeded them by 13.2 percent. Last December, collections fell 4 percent below the benchmark.
Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, told The Boston Globe that the April numbers give “mixed messages” about the state’s economy.
“Are revenue collections, big picture, strong in April compared to last year? They are,” he told the Globe. “But how does that translate to the state’s finances is a different question that we’re really not going to know for a few months.”
Ross Cristantiello
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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