Reduce the State Personal Income Tax Rate to 4% Initiative
Did not qualify
Massachusetts · November 2026 general election · Citizen initiative · Election day November 3, 2026
Topics: Taxes and revenue
In plain language
This initiative would have lowered the Massachusetts personal income tax rate in stages, from 5 percent to 4.67 percent for tax year 2027, 4.33 percent for 2028, and 4 percent for 2029 and later years. The reduction would have applied both to income from interest and dividends and to other personal income such as wages and salaries. On June 18, 2026, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the attorney general’s ballot summary was misleading because it did not disclose that the measure would also cut the tax on long-term capital gains, and barred the question from the November 3, 2026 ballot.
Fiscal impact
No official fiscal note has been issued for this measure yet.
When the state publishes a fiscal analysis, it will appear here and be listed in the sources below.
What supporters and opponents say
These are summaries of arguments made by the named organizations, drawn from the sources listed below. They are their claims, not this site's, and this site takes no position on the measure.
What supporters say
- Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts, the committee that led the campaign, described the cut as a response to the state’s affordability and competitiveness problems.
- Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, argued that a one-percentage-point income tax cut phased in over three years did not cause a sharp revenue drop when Massachusetts last cut the rate, and would not now.
- The Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts backed the measure.
What opponents say
- A group of union members sued in January 2026, arguing the attorney general’s summary failed to tell voters the measure would also reduce the tax on long-term capital gains; the Supreme Judicial Court agreed and kept the question off the ballot.
- Protect Massachusetts’ Future and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center argued that the income tax cut, together with the revenue-cap question, would remove close to 12 percent of state revenue and force cuts to education, health care and local services.
- Legislative leaders said deep cuts to services would be required if the measure passed, and in June 2026 the Legislature scaled back separate business tax changes to limit the budget impact if it did.
Reproduced verbatim from the state's certified ballot text.
This proposed law would, over a period of three years, lower the tax rates on (1) personal taxable income consisting of interest and dividends, and (2) personal taxable income other than interest, dividends or capital gain income, such as wages and salaries. Both tax rates were 5.00% for tax year 2024. The proposed law would set both tax rates at 4.67% for tax year 2027, 4.33% for tax year 2028, and 4.00% beginning in tax year 2029. The proposed law states that, if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.
Sources
Everything on this page traces to these sources. Follow them to read the original documents.
- Massachusetts Elections Division, Secretary of the Commonwealth — Elections and Voting
- Massachusetts Attorney General — Ballot Initiatives Submitted for the 2026 Biennial Statewide Election
- Ballotpedia — Massachusetts Decrease State Income Tax Rate to 4% Initiative (2026)
- Ballotpedia — Massachusetts 2026 ballot measures
- WBUR — Two proposed 2026 ballot questions could upend state revenue plans
Last updated . How this page is sourced and corrected is described in the correction policy.