Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 60, § 22A

The collector may, and shall at the request at any time of a person owning or having an interest in a parcel of land, issue a separate tax bill or notice for the tax for any year upon any parcel of land separately assessed or separately listed on the assessors' valuation list, which bill or notice shall contain a description of said parcel or reference to the assessors' valuation list sufficient to identify such parcel. With respect to the tax for any year on any parcel of land so separately assessed or separately listed, the owner of said parcel or person assessed or a person having any interest in said parcel may at any time prior to a tax taking or a tax sale of such parcel make full payment of the tax upon such parcel or may make from time to time partial payments on account of the tax upon such parcel of not less than ten per cent of such tax, but in no event less in amount than ten dollars, and otherwise subject to the terms, conditions and provisions governing partial payments of a tax contained in section twenty-two. The collector shall give a receipt in full for any such full payment and a partial receipt for any such partial payment. Any such payment in full shall discharge the tax lien upon such parcel for the taxes of the year in which such tax was assessed, and any such partial payment shall reduce the tax lien upon such parcel for the taxes of such year to the extent of the portion of the tax upon such parcel so paid. No lien shall be deemed to exist upon any parcel of land for or because of the tax or portion of tax assessed on or with respect to any other parcel. Such information as to the assessors' valuation list as may be required for the purposes of this section shall be furnished by the assessors to the collector upon demand.