Stimulus update: Refund payments not seen in 35 years to reach millions next week in Massachusetts

Asher Notheis

December 09, 11:34 AM December 09, 11:34 AM

Massachusetts residents will receive some extra pocket cash ahead of Christmas thanks to a tax refund issued by the state.

The state of Massachusetts will be giving excess money from tax collections, roughly $3 billion, to state residents who filed their income tax returns in 2021. The money being given to residents comes after the state collected enough revenue to spark a law from 1986 that caps the annual growth in the state's tax collection, according to WGBH.

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“Based on the performance of our economy and our tax collections for the last fiscal year, we do believe that there’ll be a significant return to the taxpayers according to existing state law sometime later this year,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said in July.

The state's Department of Revenue has already begun issuing the refunds since Nov. 1 and plans to give them to roughly three million taxpayers. Anyone who has already filed their 2021 taxes should receive their refund by Dec. 15, according to the state.

No action will be needed by taxpayers to receive this refund, which will include an explanation of the 1986 law and why they received their refund. For people who included bank information on their 2021 tax return, they will receive their refund via direct deposit; if not, they will be given their refund as a check in the mail.

The tax refund provision, known as Chapter 62F, has only been triggered once before, in 1987, since it was enacted in 1986 via a ballot question.

The amount people receive from this refund will vary, as the return amount will be 14% of what taxpayers paid in state income tax in 2021 after accounting for any credits, and married couples who filed jointly will only receive one refund. The state's Department of Revenue has an online refund estimator tool for one to see how much taxpayers will receive, though they will need their 2021 tax return to fill out the information needed to determine their refund.

Unpaid taxes, unpaid child support, and other debts could potentially reduce the refund amount that a taxpayer is projected to receive.

A call center to answer refund questions is available to call Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 877-677-9727. This center will not answer how much a person's refund will be.