When Is Massachusetts Sales Tax Due? Schedules and Penalties

Massachusetts sales tax returns and payments are due on or before the 20th day of the month after your reporting period ends. How often you file depends on how much sales tax your business collects in a year: vendors expecting $100 or less in annual liability file once a year, those between $101 and $1,200 file quarterly, and anyone above $1,200 files monthly.¹ The state’s 6.25% rate applies to most tangible goods and certain services, and the vendor who collected the tax is personally responsible for getting it to the Department of Revenue on time.²

How Your Filing Frequency Is Set

The Department of Revenue assigns your schedule based on the sales and use tax your business is reasonably expected to collect during the calendar year, excluding the separate meals tax. Three brackets apply under 830 CMR 62C.16.2:¹

Annual filing if your expected liability is $100 or less. One return covers January 1 through December 31, due by January 20 of the following year.
Quarterly filing if your liability is more than $100 but no more than $1,200. Each return is due by the 20th of the month after the quarter closes.
Monthly filing if your liability exceeds $1,200. Each return is due by the 20th of the following month.

If you are registered for both regular sales tax and meals tax, each liability is evaluated independently to set the filing frequency for that return.

Due Dates by Filing Period

The 20th-day rule applies across all three frequencies. A monthly filer who collects tax in January owes the return and payment by February 20. A quarterly filer covering January through March has until April 20. Annual filers are due by January 20.¹

Quarterly due dates:

Q1 (January–March): April 20
Q2 (April–June): July 20
Q3 (July–September): October 20
Q4 (October–December): January 20

When the 20th lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. That includes Massachusetts-specific holidays such as Patriots’ Day (third Monday in April) and Evacuation Day (March 17 in Suffolk County), so check both state and federal calendars each year.³

Advance Payments for High-Volume Vendors

If your cumulative sales tax liability in the previous calendar year topped $150,000, you owe an advance payment each month on top of the regular return. The advance is due by the 25th of the month and must cover either the tax collected from the 1st through the 21st of that month, or at least 80% of the prior month’s total liability, whichever method you choose. The remaining balance is then due with your regular return on the 30th day after the end of the monthly filing period.⁴

If the amount you send on the 25th falls short of what the rule requires, or if it comes in below 70% of the total tax you ultimately report for that period, DOR adds a 5% penalty on the underpayment. The $150,000 threshold is evaluated separately for each return type, so a vendor filing both regular sales tax and meals tax checks each one on its own.⁴

When Out-of-State Sellers Have to Start Filing

Out-of-state businesses selling into Massachusetts must register as vendors and start collecting the 6.25% tax once their Massachusetts sales exceed $100,000 in either the current or prior calendar year. The rule covers physical goods, digital products, and cloud-based software. Once you cross the threshold, the same 20th-day deadlines and frequency tiers apply to you as to any in-state vendor.⁵

Marketplace facilitators have a parallel obligation. When a marketplace’s total facilitated and direct Massachusetts sales exceed $100,000 in a calendar year, the marketplace itself must register, collect, and remit the tax on all those sales.⁵

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Filing late costs 1% of the unpaid tax per month, or any portion of a month, up to a maximum of 25%.⁶ Paying late carries a separate but identical penalty: 1% per month, capped at 25%.⁷ The penalty calculation gives credit for anything paid on time. If you paid 80% of what you owed by the due date but filed the return late, the monthly penalty applies only to the unpaid 20%.

Interest also accrues on any unpaid balance at the federal short-term rate plus four percentage points, compounded daily. The rate resets each quarter. For the first quarter of 2026 it was 8%, so what you ultimately pay depends on when the balance is settled.⁸

One more cost to watch: Massachusetts requires sales tax returns and payments to be filed electronically through MassTaxConnect. A paper return from a business subject to the e-filing rule will not be processed, and DOR can add a penalty of up to $100 per paper return or improper payment. A narrow carve-out exists for businesses registered before September 1, 2003, whose combined tax liability stays under $5,000 annually.⁹

1
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. 830 CMR 62C.16.2 – Sales and Use Tax Returns and Payments
2
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax for Businesses
3
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. TIR 84-3 – Saturday, Sunday and Holiday Due Dates
4
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Advance Payment Requirements
5
Mass.gov. Remote Seller and Marketplace Facilitator FAQs
6
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 62C Section 33
7
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Massachusetts Penalties and Interest Assessed by DOR
8
Mass.gov. TIR 25-8 – Interest Rate On Overpayments And Underpayments
9
Massachusetts Department of Revenue. DOR E-filing and Payment Requirements