Figure out if you have to file a MA income tax return and do it online right here on RapidTax
Massachusetts taxes both earned (wages, salaries, tips, etc.) and unearned (interest, dividends, capital gains, etc.) income at 5.25%. Plus there’s a 12% tax on some capital gains.
This means that come tax time you’ll likely have to file a Massachusetts return if you live in the Bay State or earn money there. If you know you have to file, you can get started on your MA return right here on RapidTax, whether or not you have to file a federal return too.
If you’re unsure if you have to file, keep reading.
Who has to file a Massachusetts return?
Whether you have to file a Massachusetts return depends in large part on your residency. Here are the three different categories you can fall into:
Massachusetts resident – you must file a return if your gross income is more than $8,000 for the year.
Part-year Massachusetts resident – you must a file a return if your gross income for the portion of the year that you were a MA resident is greater than $8,000.
Nonresident – things get a little more complicated for nonresidents. If your income from Massachusetts sources is greater than $8,000 you definitely have to file a nonresident return. If your MA source income is less than $8,000 you may have to file a nonresident return if your income is greater than your prorated personal exemption.
Your prorated personal exemption is the personal exemption for your filing status x the percentage of your income that came from Massachusetts.
Here’s an example. Let’s say Cindy Lou earns $7,500 in Massachusetts out of a total income of $15,000. That means that 50% of her income came from MA. So to find her prorated personal exemption she needs to multiply the personal exemption for her filing status by 0.5. In this case it’s $4,400 x 0.5 = $2,200. Because she earned more than $2,200, she has to file.
File your return with RapidTax
You can take care of your Massachusetts tax return right here on RapidTax for a small fee. While we do offer free federal returns, we do not offer free state returns.
The price for just a Massachusetts return (and no federal) is $34.99.
If you are filing a federal return at the same time, the cost of filing your Massachusetts state tax return drops to $19.99.
*Note that $19.99 is the cost of filing your first state return. If you need to file a second one, the cost is $34.99.
Do you need to file a Massachusetts state return from a prior year? Not a problem. RapidTax can help you take care of that too.
The cost of preparing a prior year MA return without a federal is $34.99. The cost of preparing a prior year Massachusetts return in addition to the cost of a prior year federal is only $15.00.
Our low prices are only one of the many reasons to file your taxes on RapidTax along with our ridiculously easy tax program and free live help from our tax professionals. Don’t put off filing any longer. Get started now.
Photo via Werner Kunz on Flickr.
