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Massachusetts House Bill 3170 Lowers State Sales Tax to Five Percent

Original title: An Act relative to lowering the sales tax to 5%

Last action · April 21, 2026: Accompanied a study order, see H5313Sponsor: Marc Lombardo

Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Would Do

State sales and rates are reduced from 6.25 percent to 5 percent under Massachusetts House Bill 3170.

Why it matters

All retail consumers making taxable purchases in Massachusetts will pay a lower percentage in state sales tax, reducing state revenue collections accordingly.

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Retail consumers

Consumers will pay a lower percentage in sales and use tax on taxable retail transactions.

Directly affected

Retail businesses

Retailers must update their point-of-sale and tax collection systems to apply the new 5 percent rate.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the new proposed sales tax rate under this bill?
The bill proposes lowering the sales and rate to 5 percent.
Which chapters of the General Laws are modified by this legislation?
The bill amends Section 2 of Chapter 64H and Section 2 of Chapter 64I of the General Laws.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Where This Stands

Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Procedural history

6 actions
  1. Apr 21, 2026House
    Accompanied a study order, see H5313
  2. Feb 25, 2026House
    Reporting date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026
  3. Dec 18, 2025House
    Reporting date extended to Friday, February 20, 2026
  4. Sep 19, 2025Joint
    Hearing scheduled for 09/29/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1
  5. Feb 27, 2025Senate
    Senate concurred
  6. Feb 27, 2025HouseCommittee
    Referred to the committee on Revenue

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

cross reference90% confidence

Accompanied by study order

The bill was accompanied by a study order under House docket H5313.

Connected Entities

Marc Lombardo
PersonMarc Lombardo“Representative who filed House Bill 3170”Map →

Sources

Open source document

malegislature.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance75
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy60
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz40
    Current news / social attention level

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