Press Release  April Revenue Collections Total $6.838 Billion

Boston, MA — Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder today announced that preliminary revenue collections for April totaled $6.838 billion, $511 million or 8.1% more than actual collections in April 2024, and $1.116 billion or 19.5% above benchmark.^[1]

FY2025 year-to-date collections totaled approximately $36.517 billion,^[2] which is $2.658 billion or 7.8% more than actual collections in the same period of FY2024, and $1.899 billion or 5.5% above the year-to-date benchmark. A significant portion of the FY25 year-to-date above benchmark performance is likely driven by surtax^[3] and capital gains tax collections.

“The increase in April revenue relative to April 2024 collections was primarily driven by an increase in non-withholding income taxes, which was likely due, in large part, to increases in surtax and capital gains tax collections. April revenue also included increases in withholding, sales and use tax, and all ‘all other tax”, said Commissioner Snyder. “These increases were partially offset by a decrease in corporate and business taxes, which was driven by decreases in estimated payments as well as returns and bills payments, partially offset by a favorable decrease in refunds.”

Historically, April has been the single largest month for collections, ranking first of the 12 months in eight of the last 10 years. There are two main causes for April’s relative strength. First, the individual tax filing season reaches its peak; payments made with returns are concentrated in April, while refunds are spread across February, March, and April. Second, the first income estimated payment installment for the current tax year is due in April.

Details:

•  Income tax collections for April totaled $5.238 billion, $1.230 billion or 30.7% above benchmark, and $589 million or 12.7% more than April 2024.
• Withholding tax collections for April totaled $1.513 billion, $19 million or 1.3% above benchmark, and $12 million or 0.8% more than April 2024
• Income tax estimated payments for April totaled $498 million, $76 million or 18.0% above benchmark, and $69 million or 16.1% more than April 2024.
• Income tax returns and bills for April totaled $3.837 billion, $1.119 billion or 41.1% above benchmark, and $489 million or 14.6% more than April 2024
• Income tax cash refunds for April totaled $610 million in outflows, $16 million or 2.5% below benchmark, and $18 million or 2.8% less than April 2024
• Sales and use tax collections for April totaled $850 million, $10 million or 1.2% above benchmark, and $16 million or 1.9% more than April 2024.
• Corporate and business tax collections for April totaled $534 million, $142 million or 21.0% below benchmark, and $117 million or 17.9% less than April 2024.
• “All other” tax collections for April totaled $216 million, $18 million or 9.0% above benchmark, and $23 million or 11.8% more than April 2024.

April 2025 Tax Collections Summary (in $ millions) Preliminary as of May 05, 2025 (PDF)

Footnotes

[1]

FY2025 monthly revenue benchmarks are posted on the DOR website.

[2]

Excludes $58 million in year-to-date revenue reclassified as settlement and judgment payments.

[3]

On December 6, 2024, DOR certified the amount of revenue estimated to have been collected from the surtax was $2.460 billion in fiscal year 2024. In comparison, the full fiscal year 2025 budgeted surtax benchmark equals $1.300 billion, which is well below the fiscal year 2024 level.

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