Massachusetts

Massachusetts has a statutory tax limit under MA General Laws Title IX Chapter 62F. in 1986, voters passed an initiative limiting state tax revenue to the growth of state wages and salaries, and any excess had to be refunded to taxpayers. This statute limits the growth of state tax revenues but does not apply to expenditures. This limit does apply to local governments as well so that the state cannot just push government programs onto local government budgets. Because this limit is statutory, the legislature can override the limit by a simple majority vote. Some stricter growth limitations were added in 2002, but these never took effect and were removed in 2012.

The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.

Year	Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending	Inflation-adjusted TABOR Spending	Difference
1992	21,419,782,170	--	--
1993	22,622,518,260	21,480,492,570	1,142,025,690
1994	23,395,793,120	21,552,140,520	1,843,652,600
1995	25,224,849,350	21,660,571,260	3,564,278,090
1996	25,957,366,320	21,741,231,960	4,216,134,360
1997	28,228,222,880	21,846,869,950	6,381,352,930
1998	28,515,711,680	21,949,409,290	6,566,302,390
1999	30,141,631,370	22,057,717,560	8,083,913,810
2000	34,671,307,710	22,705,494,490	11,965,813,220
2001	38,447,687,000	22,833,324,900	15,614,362,100
2002	34,033,933,700	22,902,271,970	11,131,661,730
2003	32,481,099,870	22,921,006,130	9,560,093,740
2004	29,297,241,260	22,885,193,570	6,412,047,690
2005	45,242,922,850	22,854,000,460	22,388,922,390
2006	50,453,251,960	22,877,586,230	27,575,665,730
2007	52,557,843,270	22,952,312,240	29,605,531,030
2008	53,721,927,200	23,081,973,290	30,639,953,910
2009	56,217,850,510	23,256,032,470	32,961,818,040
2010	49,739,969,450	23,427,187,460	26,312,781,990
2011	53,125,576,750	23,593,440,420	29,532,136,330
2012	50,273,092,570	23,768,709,490	26,504,383,080
2013	56,405,142,250	23,947,845,840	32,457,296,410
2014	57,833,644,520	24,122,663,980	33,710,980,540
2015	57,646,115,940	24,238,770,740	33,407,345,200
2016	49,834,208,690	24,343,954,700	25,490,253,990
2017	48,070,524,010	24,471,098,510	23,599,425,500
2018	48,546,878,850	24,548,522,690	23,998,356,160
2019	50,415,333,470	24,580,726,130	25,834,607,340
2020	51,413,223,180	24,943,391,600	26,469,831,580
2021	50,822,838,350	24,923,675,810	25,899,162,540
2022	51,271,000,000	24,892,834,090	26,378,165,910

*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars.

$589.2 billion

Total Massachusetts taxpayer savings with TABOR implemented in 1992

$19 billion/year

Average annual Massachusetts taxpayer savings with TABOR implemented in 1992

$88,787

Total savings per capita in Massachusetts with TABOR implemented in 1992

$2,864/year

Average annual savings per capita in Massachusetts with TABOR implemented in 1992