Massachusetts Senior Circuit Breaker Credit: Money Back for Older Renters and Homeowners
Massachusetts gives homeowners and renters who are 65 or older a refundable income tax credit when their property tax or rent is high compared with their income. For tax year 2025 it's worth up to $2,820, and you get the money even if you owe no state income tax. You claim it on one schedule, and you can go back three years if you missed it.
AT A GLANCE
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What the circuit breaker credit is
The Senior Circuit Breaker is a state income tax credit for older residents whose housing costs eat up a big share of their income. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) runs it, and it's based on the real estate taxes or rent you actually paid for your main home during the year.
It's refundable. If the credit is more than the income tax you owe, DOR refunds the difference, without interest. That means a senior with little or no taxable income can still get a check. You just have to file a return to claim it.
The test is simple: the credit kicks in when your housing cost figure is more than 10% of your income.
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Who qualifies
DOR's page and the 2025 Schedule CB list these requirements. You need all of them:
Age. You, or your spouse if you file jointly, were 65 or older by December 31 of the tax year. For a 2025 claim, that means 65 before January 1, 2026.
Residency. You're a Massachusetts resident or part-year resident.
Your main home is in Massachusetts. You own or rent it and live there as your principal residence.
Filing status. Single, head of household or married filing jointly. Married filing separately doesn't qualify.
Not a dependent on someone else's return.
Income under the limit for your filing status (table below).
Housing costs over the 10% line (explained in the next section).
Homeowners only: your home's assessed value, before residential exemptions but after abatements, is at or below the limit.
Who can't claim it
Renters with a rent subsidy. If you get any federal or state rent subsidy, including Section 8, you're out.
People who rent from a tax-exempt landlord, or who live in a housing authority unit.
Assisted living residents in a facility that doesn't pay real estate taxes, such as public housing or a church-run home.
Nonresidents, married couples filing separately, and dependents.
If the credit you're owed exceeds the amount of the total tax payable for the year, you'll be refunded the additional amount of the credit without interest. (Massachusetts DOR)
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Income limits, home value limits and maximum credit by year
Each limit is adjusted every year for inflation, and DOR publishes the new figures in a Technical Information Release (TIR). Because you can claim up to three years back, the older figures still matter:
Tax year | Single | Head of household | Married filing jointly | Home value limit | Maximum credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 (TIR 25-7) | $75,000 | $94,000 | $112,000 | $1,298,000 | $2,820 |
2024 (TIR 24-10) | $72,000 | $91,000 | $109,000 | $1,172,000 | $2,730 |
2023 (TIR 23-11) | $69,000 | $86,000 | $103,000 | $1,025,000 | $2,590 |
The tax year 2026 figures weren't posted on DOR's site when we checked. The 2025 update, TIR 25-7, is dated October 24, 2025, so look for a 2026 TIR before you file.
What "total income" means here
This is the part people most often get wrong. The income test doesn't use your taxable income. It uses a broader total income figure that starts with Massachusetts AGI and adds back money that isn't taxed. According to DOR, that includes:
Social Security, the full amount before Medicare premiums. Don't subtract the premiums.
Pensions, annuities and IRA or Keogh distributions that aren't taxed on your Massachusetts return, including Massachusetts and U.S. government pensions.
Cash public assistance, which DOR says includes food stamps and welfare, plus one-time help like emergency rental assistance after a fire.
Fuel assistance paid directly to you, such as a one-time check to fill an oil tank. A discounted utility rate isn't counted.
Gifts, workers' compensation, and disability or sick pay paid in place of wages.
Tax-exempt interest and dividends, interest on U.S. and Massachusetts government bonds, and gain on the sale of your home even if it's excluded from tax.
Things that don't count include life insurance proceeds, one-time distributions from an estate that's been probated, Schedule D losses, the value of assets you hold (like an IRA balance), and U.S. Series E and EE bonds until you cash them.
You then subtract your personal exemptions for age 65+, blindness and dependents, plus certain Schedule Y deductions. The result is the "qualifying income" on line 9 of Schedule CB.
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How the credit is figured
The math is different for owners and renters, but both use the same 10% line.
Homeowners | Renters | |
|---|---|---|
Housing cost used | Real estate taxes paid in the calendar year, minus abatements, exemptions and late-payment interest, plus 50% of water and sewer charges | 25% of the rent you paid for the year |
Subtract | 10% of qualifying income | 10% of qualifying income |
Credit | The difference, up to the maximum ($2,820 for 2025) | The difference, up to the maximum ($2,820 for 2025) |
Schedule CB lines | 10 to 17 | 18 to 21 |
If 10% of your income is equal to or more than your housing cost figure, you don't qualify.
Two examples (our own math)
These are our own illustrations using the 2025 rules, not DOR figures.
A renter. A 72-year-old pays $1,500 a month, or $18,000 for the year, and has $30,000 of qualifying income.
25% of rent: $4,500
10% of income: $3,000
Credit: $4,500 minus $3,000 = $1,500
A homeowner. A 68-year-old paid $5,000 in property tax and $1,200 in water and sewer bills, and has $28,000 of qualifying income.
Tax plus half of water and sewer: $5,000 + $600 = $5,600
10% of income: $2,800
Credit: $5,600 minus $2,800 = $2,800, which is under the $2,820 cap
Homeowner details that change the number
Use what you paid in the calendar year, even if part of it was for another year's bill.
Subtract abatements from your assessors, exemptions for veterans, surviving spouses, blind persons, and the reduction you earned through a Senior Work Program. Also subtract interest and penalties for paying late.
Don't adjust for Community Preservation Act surcharges, the Cape Cod Open Space Land Acquisition Program, or taxes from a tax-levying district.
Water and sewer: you can add half of what you paid, including stormwater fees, but only if your town doesn't already bill those charges on your property tax bill. Paying to have a private company pump your septic tank doesn't count. A town sewage facility's charge to process septic waste does.
Multi-family homes or more than one acre: claim only the share of tax and value that goes with the part you live in, and no more than one acre of land around the house. Your assessor can give you a breakdown.
Moved during the year? Do a separate calculation for each home, then subtract the income threshold once from the combined total.
Renter details
Multi-unit buildings: you claim 25% of the rent you paid for your own unit.
Assisted living fees count as rent only if the facility pays real estate taxes and you have a real landlord-tenant relationship. DOR looks at your contract to see what part of the monthly fee is rent. Payments to nursing homes, homes for the elderly or retirement homes may not count unless that kind of relationship exists.
Homes held in trust: if a grantor trust owns your home and you or your spouse are a trustee, you're treated as an owner. If you're not a trustee, or the trust is irrevocable, renter rules apply, and payments you make to the trust can be treated as rent.
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How to claim it
Gather your paperwork. Property tax bills and proof of payment, or a year of rent records, plus water and sewer bills if you're an owner. Note your landlord's name and address. Schedule CB asks for them.
Fill out Schedule CB with your Form 1 (or Form 1-NR/PY if you were a part-year resident).
Add any other schedules you need. DOR lists Schedule HC (health care information), and Schedule Y, B or D if they apply.
Enter the credit on your return. For 2025 it goes on Form 1, line 44, or Form 1-NR/PY, line 48.
File. Full-year residents who have filed a Massachusetts return before can file and claim the credit free on MassTaxConnect. You can also mail it.
Before you file
☐ Confirm you or your joint-filing spouse turned 65 by December 31
☐ Your SSA-1099 showing the full benefit before Medicare premiums
☐ Pension, IRA and annuity statements, plus records of any cash assistance
☐ Your real estate tax bills, or rent receipts or a landlord statement
☐ Water and sewer bills (owners), and your assessed value as of January 1
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Missed the credit in an earlier year?
Many seniors who don't owe tax never file, so they never claim it. You can fix that:
File an amended return for the year you qualified, with that year's Schedule CB. Fill in the "Amended return" oval.
Include real estate tax bills or proof of tax paid, or proof of rent paid, plus water and sewer bills or proof of payment.
Use the prior-year Schedule CB from DOR's forms page, and the limits for that year (see the table above).
The deadline is firm. Schedule CB has to be filed within 3 years of the last day for filing that year's return, and extensions don't push that date back. After that, the credit for that year is gone.
If your home's value changes
The home value test is measured on January 1 of the tax year. A value that rises above the limit later in the year doesn't knock you out. If you appeal your assessment and win a lower value, you can use the reduced figure.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
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More help in Boston
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 30, 2026. Eligibility, income and home value limits, maximum credits, the calculation, filing steps and phone numbers come from the DOR Senior Circuit Breaker page (updated March 3, 2026), TIRs 25-7, 24-10 and 23-11, and the 2025 Schedule CB.
This is general information, not tax advice. For your situation, contact the Massachusetts Department of Revenue or a free tax-help site.
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