Maine · the numbers

Maine figures at a glance, 2026

The Maine numbers for the 2026 return in one place: the three brackets and the new surcharge, the standard deduction and where it phases out, the personal exemption, the pension deduction, the credits, the estate tax line and the dates. Each with a one-line note, and a short list of what moved since 2025. For anyone who files here, and for anyone checking a preparer’s work.

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax · written from Maine Revenue Services sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election · not yet reviewed by a Maine practitioner

Maine has more moving parts than most states its size: three brackets indexed each year, a standard deduction and a personal exemption that both phase out at high income, a pension deduction tied to the Social Security benefit formula, and a set of refundable credits with their own income tables. For 2026 the Department published the brackets, the surcharge, the deduction, the exemption, the phase-out worksheets and the pension cap by midsummer; the credit tables and the Form 1040ME instructions themselves follow in the winter. Where a 2026 figure is not yet out, the 2025 figure is shown and marked.

Rates and brackets

2026 Maine income tax rate schedule (Maine taxable income)
Filing status	5.8% up to	6.75% up to	7.15% above	2% surcharge above
Single	$27,400	$64,850	$64,850	$1,000,000
Married filing separately	$27,400	$64,850	$64,850	$750,000
Head of household	$41,100	$97,300	$97,300	$1,500,000
Married filing jointly, surviving spouse	$54,850	$129,750	$129,750	$1,500,000

From the Department’s rate schedule revised May 20, 2026. The tax at the top of the 6.75% bracket is $4,117 single, $6,178 head of household and $8,237 joint; above that, 7.15% of the excess. The surcharge is new for 2026 and makes the marginal rate 9.15% over the threshold; its thresholds are indexed from 2027. Capital gains, dividends and interest are taxed at the same rates as wages. No Maine city or town has an income tax.

Deductions and exemption

2026 Maine deduction and exemption figures
Item	2026	Note
Standard deduction, single and married filing separately	$15,700	Maine’s own figure; below the federal $16,100. Conforms to federal from 2027.
Standard deduction, head of household	$23,550	Federal is $24,150.
Standard deduction, joint and surviving spouse	$31,400	Federal is $32,200.
Additional standard deduction, 65 or older or blind, per condition	$2,050 / $1,650	$2,050 if single or head of household; $1,650 per spouse if married.
Deduction phase-out begins, Maine AGI, single / HOH / joint	$102,250 / $153,400 / $204,550	Standard or itemized. Shrinks to zero over the next $75,000 / $112,500 / $150,000.
Maine itemized deductions cap (Schedule 2)	$37,100	Medical and dental expenses sit outside the cap. State and local income taxes come out of the federal total first.
Personal exemption, taxpayer and spouse each	$5,300	$10,600 joint. None for dependents; $0 if claimed as a dependent on another return.
Exemption phase-out begins, Maine AGI, single / HOH / joint / MFS	$341,000 / $375,050 / $409,150 / $204,575	Gone over the next $125,000 ($62,500 MFS).
Pension income deduction, per person	$49,824	Reduced dollar for dollar by Social Security and Railroad Retirement received. Phases out above federal AGI of $125,000 / $187,500 / $250,000 (2025 thresholds; 2026 to come).
Social Security and Railroad Retirement	100% subtracted	Schedule 1S. Any age, any income.
Military retirement pay	100% subtracted	No cap, no age test; claimed through the pension deduction worksheet without counting against the $49,824 (verify).
529 contribution subtraction, per beneficiary	$1,000	Only if federal AGI is $100,000 or less single, $200,000 or less otherwise. A cliff, not a phase-out (verify).
Federal tips, overtime, senior and car-loan deductions	Not allowed	Maine declined to conform. All four amounts are fully taxed.

Worked example: the deduction phase-out on a joint return

Married, filing jointly, both under 65, Maine AGI of $280,000, taking the standard deduction. The 2026 phase-out worksheet.

Maine AGI	$280,000
Phase-out threshold, joint	−$204,550
Excess	$75,450
Excess ÷ $150,000 phase-out range	0.503
Standard deduction lost: $31,400 × 0.503	−$15,794
Standard deduction allowed	$15,606
Personal exemptions (below the $409,150 phase-out)	$10,600
Maine taxable income	$253,794
Maine tax: $8,237 + 7.15% × $124,044	$17,106

Half the standard deduction is gone at $280,000, and all of it at $354,550. Inside the phase-out range every extra $1,000 of income costs about $209 of deduction as well as $71.50 of tax at 7.15%, an effective marginal rate near 8.6%. A deductible IRA or HSA contribution that lowers AGI works twice here.

Credits

Maine credits for individuals, 2026 return
Credit	Figure	Refundable?	Income limit
Maine earned income credit (Schedule A)	25% of the federal EITC; 50% for a worker with no qualifying children	Yes, residents and part-year residents	Federal EITC limits; also open to ITIN filers and childless workers 18 and over
Dependent exemption tax credit (Schedule A)	$305 per dependent, $610 if under age 6 (2025 figures; 2026 to come) (verify)	Yes	Reduced $20 per $500 of Maine AGI over $100,000 single / $125,000 HOH / $150,000 joint / $75,000 MFS
Child care credit (Schedule A)	25% of the federal child and dependent care credit; 50% for a DHHS-certified quality provider	Yes, up to $500	Follows the federal credit
Property tax fairness credit (Schedule PTFC/STFC)	Up to $1,000; $2,000 at 65 or older (2025; 2026 to come). Renters count 15% of rent as property tax	Yes	2025: $63,750 single; $82,500 or $101,250 head of household and joint, depending on dependents; $102,500 at 65 or older. Property tax must exceed 4% of total income. Not for married filing separately
Sales tax fairness credit (Schedule PTFC/STFC)	Up to $280 (2025; 2026 to come); $155 for a single filer	Yes	2025: total income under $32,950 single / $51,700 HOH / $63,950 joint; slides to zero at the ceiling
Student loan repayment tax credit (Schedule A)	Up to $2,500 a year, $25,000 lifetime, for payments on loans for a degree earned after 2007 (verify)	Yes	Minimum earned income tied to the state minimum wage (verify)
Credit for income tax paid to other jurisdictions (Schedule A)	Lesser of the other state’s tax or the Maine tax on the same income; from 2026 includes other states’ pass-through entity taxes	No	Residents only
Pass-through entity tax credit	90% of entity-level tax paid at 7.15% (new 2026)	Yes	None

Every refundable credit requires a Form 1040ME even when no tax is due. The property tax fairness credit reaches renters as well as owners, and the two fairness credits share one schedule.

Dates

Maine dates for the 2026 return
Date	What
January 15, 2027	Fourth 2026 estimated payment, Form 1040ES-ME. No penalty on this installment if the full year’s tax is paid by January 31, 2027
April 15, 2027	Form 1040ME and payment due; extension payment with Form 1040EXT-ME; first 2027 estimated payment
June 15 and September 15, 2027	Second and third 2027 estimated payments
October 15, 2027	Extended due date; the six-month extension is automatic, with no form, if at least 90% of the tax was paid by April 15

Estimated payments are required when the Maine tax after withholding and credits is expected to be $1,000 or more; the safe harbor is 100% of last year’s tax or 90% of this year’s, with no 110% tier. See Maine calendar and forms.

Beyond the income tax

Other Maine figures a household meets
Item	2026
Estate tax exclusion, deaths in 2026	$7,160,000 (from $7,000,000). Rates 8% on the first $3,000,000 over, 10% on the next $3,000,000, 12% above $13,160,000. Gifts within one year of death pulled back. No inheritance or gift tax
Homestead exemption (property tax)	$25,000 of just value, applied for once with the town by April 1 after 12 months of ownership
Property Tax Stabilization (“senior freeze”)	Repealed after 2023. Not available
State sales tax	5.5%, no local sales taxes; 8% on prepared food, 9% on lodging
Reciprocal states for wages	None
Supplemental wage withholding	Flat 5% when paid separately (verify); Form W-4ME

What changed from 2025

2% surcharge on taxable income over $1,000,000 single / $750,000 MFS / $1,500,000 joint and head of household. New; top marginal rate 9.15%.
Pension income deduction $49,824 per person, from $48,216.
Personal exemption $5,300, from $5,150.
Itemized deduction cap $37,100, from $36,300.
Standard deduction $15,700 / $23,550 / $31,400, set by Maine below the federal figures; matches federal from 2027. The 2025 Maine amounts were likewise below federal after the Legislature declined the 2025 federal increase.
Estate tax exclusion $7,160,000, from $7,000,000.
Conformity date December 31, 2025 (L.D. 2212), with tips, overtime, senior, car-loan and QSBS excluded, and bonus depreciation and 168(n) added back as before.
Pass-through entity tax election available for the first time for 2026.
Brackets, exemption and phase-out thresholds indexed as every year; the 2026 figures are in the tables above.
Unchanged: the 5.8 / 6.75 / 7.15% rates, the 100% Social Security subtraction, the EITC percentages, the 15% renter rule, the $1,000 529 subtraction and its $100,000 / $200,000 cliff.

Behind the scenes: which figures move and why

Maine indexes its brackets, standard deduction, personal exemption, phase-out thresholds and itemized cap every year to the Chained Consumer Price Index, which is why the figures land on odd numbers like $27,400 and $102,250. The pension deduction is indexed differently: it equals the maximum annual Social Security benefit at full retirement age as of January 1 of the tax year, so it moves with Social Security’s own formula, from $48,216 to $49,824 this year. The credits with fixed dollar maximums, the property tax fairness credit and the dependent exemption credit, are indexed by statute but published later, with the Form 1040ME instructions, which is why they show 2025 figures here.

What to bring

Last year’s Form 1040ME, so the deduction, exemption and pension figures can be compared line by line
Dates of birth for everyone on the return; 65 adds $2,050 or $1,650 to the standard deduction and doubles the property tax fairness credit maximum
Property tax bills paid in 2026, or a landlord statement of rent paid, for Schedule PTFC/STFC
SSA-1099 and every 1099-R, for the pension deduction and its Social Security offset
529 contribution statements, by beneficiary, with a check on whether federal AGI is under $100,000 / $200,000
Estimated payment confirmations from the Maine Tax Portal, with dates
Child care provider statements, and whether the provider holds a DHHS quality certificate

Questions people ask

What are the Maine income tax rates for 2026?

5.8%, 6.75% and 7.15% on Maine taxable income, with the 6.75% bracket starting at $27,400 single and $54,850 joint and the 7.15% bracket at $64,850 single and $129,750 joint. Over $1,000,000 single or $1,500,000 joint a 2% surcharge applies, so the top marginal rate is 9.15%.

What is the Maine standard deduction for 2026?

$15,700 single or married filing separately, $23,550 head of household, $31,400 joint. Add $2,050 (single or head of household) or $1,650 (per spouse, married) for each of age 65 and blindness. It phases out above $102,250 single, $153,400 head of household and $204,550 joint of Maine AGI.

How much pension income can I deduct in 2026?

Up to $49,824 per person, less the Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits you received, and less again if federal AGI is above the phase-out thresholds ($125,000 single, $187,500 head of household, $250,000 joint for 2025; the 2026 figures are to come). Military retirement pay is deducted in full and does not count against the cap.

Does Maine have a dependent exemption?

Not a deduction. Dependents earn the refundable dependent exemption tax credit instead, $305 each for 2025 and $610 for a child under six, with the 2026 amounts to come. The $5,300 personal exemption is for the taxpayer and spouse only.

Is the property tax fairness credit only for homeowners?

No. Renters qualify too, counting 15% of rent as property tax. For 2025 the maximum was $1,000, or $2,000 at 65 or older, with income limits of $63,750 single and $82,500 or $101,250 for heads of household and joint filers depending on dependents; the 2026 table is to come. Married filing separately cannot claim it.

Did the Maine estate tax exclusion change?

Yes, to $7,160,000 for deaths in 2026, from $7,000,000. The rates of 8%, 10% and 12% did not change, and there is still no Maine gift or inheritance tax.

Three brackets, two phase-outs, one new surcharge

Know where $64,850 and $129,750 fall for your return, whether the deduction phase-out touches you, and whether you are anywhere near $1 million; the rest is tables.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado
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Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Maine practitioner — use the right article