Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 65A, § 1 (2026)

Imposition of tax

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 1. A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of the estate of every person dying after February twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, who at the time of death was a resident of this commonwealth, the amount of which shall be the amount by which eighty per cent of the estate tax payable to the United States under the provisions of the federal revenue act of nineteen hundred and twenty-six shall exceed the aggregate amount of all estate, inheritance, legacy and succession taxes actually paid to the several states of the United States in respect to any property owned by such decedent or subject to such taxes as a part of or in connection with his estate.

A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of the estate of every person who at the time of death was a resident of this commonwealth and whose estate is subject to an estate tax imposed under any act of congress subsequent to the federal revenue act of nineteen hundred and twenty-six, the amount of which shall be the amount by which the federal credit under such federal revenue act shall exceed the aggregate amount of all estate, inheritance, legacy and succession taxes actually paid to the several states of the United States in respect to any property owned by such decedent or subject to such taxes as a part of or in connection with his estate.

A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of real property or tangible personal property in the commonwealth of every person who at the time of death was a resident of the United States but not a resident of the commonwealth, and upon the transfer of all property, both real and personal, within the commonwealth of every person who at the time of death was not a resident of the United States, the amount of which shall be a sum equal to such proportion of the amount by which the credit allowable under the applicable federal revenue act for estate, inheritance, legacy and succession taxes actually paid to the several states exceeds the amount actually so paid for such taxes, exclusive of estate taxes based upon the difference between such credit and other estate taxes and inheritance, legacy and succession taxes, as the value of the property in the commonwealth bears to the value of the entire estate, subject to estate tax under the applicable federal revenue act.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1973–1978 · leading case: Frost v. Comm'r of Corporations & Taxation, 293 N.E.2d 862 (Mass. 1973).

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Frost v. Comm'r of Corporations & Taxation, 293 N.E.2d 862 (Mass. 1973). · cites it 22× “These cases present constitutional questions arising from the provisions of G. L. c. 65A, § 1, which in certain circumstances impose estate taxes on the transfer of intangible personal property “within the commonwealth” of persons who have died as residents of foreign countries…”

Mary C. Wheeler Sch. v. Bd. of Assessors of Seekonk, 331 N.E.2d 888 (Mass. 1975). “803 (1973), the court upheld G. L. c. 65A, § 1, which imposed estate taxes on intangible personal property in the Commonwealth owned by residents of foreign countries but not on such property owned by residents of other States: the fact that the Federal estate tax credit was…”

Ward v. Comm'r of Corporations & Taxation, 336 N.E.2d 862 (Mass. 1975). “86, and, accordingly, under G. L. c. 65A, § 1, her estate was obliged to pay that amount as an estate tax.”

Landmark First Nat'l Bank of Fort Lauderdale v. Comm'r of Corporations & Taxation, 378 N.E.2d 458 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978). “The sole question to be determined on this appeal is whether Massachusetts real estate standing in the name of a nonresident decedent at the time of his death but which is subject to an executory agreement of purchase and sale is subject to taxation here under the provisions of…”

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