Personal Income Tax for Nonresidents

If you're a nonresident of Massachusetts, you must file a Massachusetts Income Tax Return if you received Massachusetts source income in excess of your personal exemption multiplied by the ratio of your Massachusetts source income to your total income, or your gross income was more than $8,000 – whether received from sources inside or outside Massachusetts.

You're a nonresident if you are neither a full-year nor a part-year resident. Your Massachusetts tax treatment is based on your residency status and not the type of visa you hold.

Nonresidents use Form 1-NR/PY - Massachusetts Nonresident or Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return.

Use Schedule R/NR – Resident/Nonresident Worksheet to adjust your income, deductions, and exemptions.

If your employer mistakenly withheld Massachusetts income tax, file a Massachusetts Nonresident/Part-Year Resident Return, Form 1-NR/PY, to request a refund. Submit a letter from your employer along with the return, which verifies that you didn't work in Massachusetts.

For federal purposes, your filing status determines your income tax rate. For Massachusetts purposes, your filing status determines how many personal exemptions you're allowed. For federal purposes, there are 5 filing statuses:

• Single
• Married filing a joint return
• Married filing a separate return
• Head of household
• Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child

Massachusetts offers all but the qualifying widow(er) with dependent child. Generally, if you claim this status federally, you qualify for head of household for Massachusetts.

Reporting on your original tax return

Enter your filing status on either Form 1 or 1-NR/PY, Line 1, and fill in the appropriate oval. Enter your spouse's Social Security Number in the appropriate space at the top of the return under taxpayer's Social Security Number. If you're married filing joint, both spouses must sign the return.

Singles Sales Factor Apportionment   

Effective for tax years beginning on or after Jan­uary 1, 2025, personal income tax filers that are required to apportion their income to Massachu­setts must do so by using the sales factor only. See TIR 24-4, Section IV, for a general discussion of this change.    

As a nonresident, your exemptions are based on the income you reported.

Multiply your exemption amounts by the Nonresident Deduction and Exemption Ratio (Form 1-NR/PY, Line 22a by Line 14g). This ratio is your Massachusetts gross income (from sources in Massachusetts), divided by Massachusetts gross income from all sources (as if you were a full-year Massachusetts resident).

Federal Conformity   

In general, a taxpayer’s Massachusetts gross in­come and many deductions are based on the taxpayer’s federal gross income and deductions under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) as of a spe­cific date. For tax years beginning on or after Jan­uary 1, 2024, the Massachusetts personal income tax generally conforms to the IRC as amended and in effect on January 1, 2024. For further in­formation regarding federal tax law changes see TIR 24-14 and Working Draft TIR: Massachusetts Conformity to Certain Provisions in Public Law No. 119-21.  

As a general rule, Massachusetts does not con­form to personal income tax law changes to the IRC made after January 1, 2024. However, certain specific Massachusetts personal income tax pro­visions, as set forth in MGL ch. 62, § 1(c), auto­matically conform to the IRC currently in effect. The provisions of the IRC that Massachusetts con­forms to on a current basis include those provi­sions relating to:   

• Roth IRAs;  
• IRAs; 
• The exclusion for gain on the sale of a principal residence;  
• Trade or business expenses;  
• Travel expenses;  
• Meals and entertainment expenses;  
• The maximum deferral amount of government employees’ deferred compensation plans;  
• The deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed taxpayers;  
• Medical and dental expenses;  
• Annuities;  
• Health savings accounts;  
• Employer-provided health insurance coverage;  
• Amounts received by an employee under a health and accident plan; and  
• Contributions to qualified tuition programs.   
   

Federal Tax Law Changes

Federal legislation passed in 2025 made a num­ber of changes to the IRC. The Massachusetts per­sonal income tax adopts only those changes that relate to provisions that Massachusetts adopts on a current basis (as listed above).  

Note: Massachusetts does not adopt the federal deduction for tip income (IRC § 224) or the federal deduction for overtime pay (IRC § 225). For fur­ther information regarding federal tax law changes see TIR 24-14 and Working Draft TIR: Massachu­setts Conformity to Certain Provisions in Public Law No. 119-21.

For nonresidents, you can only take deductions that are attributable to the income you reported.

Multiply your deduction by the Nonresident Deduction and Exemption ratio (Form 1-NR/PY, Line 14). This ratio is your Massachusetts gross income (from sources in Massachusetts), divided by your Massachusetts gross income from all sources (as if you were a full-year resident).

In addition to deductions that you will find on the Form 1-NR/PY itself, such as those allowed nonresidents for FICA, Medicare, RR, U.S. or Massachusetts retirement, certain dependent care expenses and the rental deduction, there is also a list of deductions the nonresidents are allowed to take on Form 1-NR/PY, Schedule Y, more fully explained in the instructions. All these deductions are allowed if directly related to specific taxable income reported on Form 1-NR/PY or to a personal Massachusetts residence.

As a nonresident, you may also qualify for certain personal income tax credits, which can reduce the amount of tax you owe.

Business-related credits

See business-related credits you may be able to claim on your personal income tax return.

No Tax Status and Limited Income credit

If your Massachusetts Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) doesn't exceed certain amounts for the taxable year, you qualify for No Tax Status (NTS) and are not required to pay any Massachusetts income tax, but still need to file a tax return.

Adjusted gross income is gross income reduced by certain business expenses and other deductions claimed on Massachusetts Schedule Y, Lines 1 to 10, such as allowable employee business expenses, alimony paid or student loan interest, etc. 
Except for Line 4, these are generally federal allowable deductions.

If you do not qualify for No Tax Status (NTS), but your Massachusetts AGI still doesn't exceed certain amounts, you may qualify for the Limited Income Credit (LIC), which may reduce your tax significantly.

Married filing separate taxpayers do not qualify for either NTS or LIC. 

See detailed information on No Tax Status and Limited Income Credit.

Lead paint removal credit

You only qualify for this credit if the property is residential and located in Massachusetts. It does not need to be a principal residence located in Massachusetts. You can get a tax credit if you own residential property in Massachusetts and paid for deleading (removing or covering lead paint) it in order to:

• Fully comply with the Massachusetts Lead Law, or
• Bringing it into interim control (pending full compliance) according to Section 197b.

See detailed information on Lead paint removal credit.