Massachusetts Small Business Tax Deadlines: What’s Still Ahead Before Year-End
Every fall, we get the same question from business owners: “wait, what else is due before the end of the year?” Between payroll, sales tax, and your own personal return, Massachusetts has more moving deadlines than most owners track in their head — and missing one usually means a penalty notice, not just a late fee. Here’s what’s actually on the calendar from here through the start of next year’s filing season.
What’s still due before December 31
If your corporation pays its excise tax in quarterly installments, the fourth one (10% of the estimated total) is due December 15. If you have six or more employees, your Health Insurance Responsibility Disclosure (HIRD) filing opens November 15 and is due by December 15 as well — this one gets missed constantly because it’s filed through MassTaxConnect, not through payroll, and nothing reminds you until the Department of Revenue does. And your regular obligations don’t pause for the holidays: sales tax, meals tax, and payroll withholding deposits stay on their normal monthly or quarterly schedule straight through December and January.
What hits in January and February
Your fourth-quarter individual estimated tax payment is due January 15. By January 31, W-2s and 1099s need to be out to employees and contractors, and if your payroll withholding falls under the $1,200 annual threshold, your M-941 annual return is due the same day. If you withhold more than that, you’re already on a monthly or quarterly filing schedule — but it’s worth double-checking, because the threshold is based on last year’s total withholding, not a one-time election, and it can shift your filing frequency without any notice from the state.
The spring filing deadlines to put on the calendar now
S corporation and partnership returns (Form 355S and Form 3) are due March 15. C corporation returns (Form 355) and your individual Form 1 are both due April 15. Extensions are automatic in Massachusetts — no separate form required — but only if you’ve paid the greater of 50% of the tax ultimately due or the minimum excise by the original deadline. An extension to file is never an extension to pay, and that’s the detail that turns a routine extension into a penalty notice.
None of these dates are a surprise — they’re the same ones every year, give or take a weekend. The businesses that never get a penalty notice aren’t the ones scrambling in April; they’re the ones with someone tracking the calendar year-round. That’s what we do for our bookkeeping and payroll clients across Framingham and the MetroWest area. If you want next year’s deadlines handled before they become this year’s problem, let’s talk.
