Does Maine Have State Income Tax? Rates, Brackets, and Filing

Yes, Maine has a state income tax. For the 2026 tax year, Maine uses three progressive brackets with rates of 5.8%, 6.75%, and 7.15%, applied to residents on their worldwide income and to non-residents on income earned from Maine sources.¹

2026 Rates and Brackets

The three rates have held steady since 2016. The dollar thresholds move periodically for inflation, and they depend on your filing status.

Single filers and married filing separately:

5.8% on taxable income under $27,400
6.75% from $27,400 to $64,849
7.15% on $64,850 and above

Married filing jointly:

5.8% on taxable income under $54,850
6.75% from $54,850 to $129,749
7.15% on $129,750 and above

Head of household:

5.8% on taxable income under $41,100
6.75% from $41,100 to $97,299
7.15% on $97,300 and above

The brackets are progressive, so each rate applies only to the slice of income that falls inside it. A single filer with $70,000 in taxable income pays 5.8% on the first $27,400, 6.75% on the next $37,450, and 7.15% only on the small piece above $64,850. Nobody pays 7.15% on their whole paycheck.¹

Who Has to Pay

Residents

You are a Maine resident for tax purposes if you were domiciled in Maine for the entire year. Domicile is your permanent legal home, the place you intend to return to when you’re away. You can also be treated as a statutory resident if you kept a permanent home in Maine and spent more than 183 days there during the year, even if you consider another state your true domicile. Residents owe Maine tax on all taxable income, no matter where it was earned.²

If another state also taxed the same income, Maine gives residents a credit for tax paid to the other jurisdiction so the money isn’t taxed twice.³

Non-Residents and Part-Year Residents

Non-residents pay Maine tax only on Maine-source income: wages for work performed in Maine, income from a Maine business, capital gains on Maine real or tangible property, and rental income from Maine property. Interest, dividends, and pensions generally are not taxed for non-residents unless connected to a business operating in Maine.³

Part-year residents owe tax on everything received while a Maine resident, plus any Maine-source income earned during the non-resident portion of the year.²

Safe Harbors for Maine Domiciliaries

Two safe harbors let someone who is technically domiciled in Maine be taxed as a non-resident. The general safe harbor requires all three of the following: you did not maintain a permanent home in Maine for the entire year, you maintained a permanent home outside Maine for the entire year, and you spent no more than 30 days in Maine during the year.

A separate foreign safe harbor covers people living abroad. It requires at least 450 days in a foreign country within any 548 consecutive days, with no more than 90 days in Maine during that period. Qualifying under either safe harbor limits your Maine tax to Maine-source income.⁴

Military and Military Spouses

Service members stationed in Maine who are domiciled elsewhere do not owe Maine tax on their military pay under federal law. Wages from a civilian side job in Maine or income from a Maine business remain taxable.⁵ A military spouse can elect to use the service member’s state of domicile, their own domicile, or the current duty station for state tax purposes, and being in Maine solely under military orders does not by itself change domicile.

How Taxable Income Is Calculated

Maine starts from your federal adjusted gross income. You carry your federal AGI onto Form 1040ME and then apply Maine-specific additions, subtractions, deductions, and credits. That conformity keeps the return relatively simple for most filers.⁶

Maine has its own standard deduction and personal exemption, separate from federal amounts. For 2026:

Standard deduction: $15,300 single, $22,950 head of household, $30,600 married filing jointly
Personal exemption: $5,300 per taxpayer, and another $5,300 for a spouse on a joint return

If you itemize on your federal return, you can itemize on your Maine return as well.¹

Retirement Income

Social Security is taxed the same way Maine taxes federal AGI: whatever portion is taxable federally flows through to your Maine return. Maine does not add a separate state-level tax on Social Security, but it also does not exempt it beyond the pension deduction described below.

For pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs (traditional, Roth, and SIMPLE), government pensions, and annuities, Maine offers a deduction of up to $30,000 per person on qualifying income already included in federal AGI. Here is the catch that surprises retirees: the $30,000 cap is reduced dollar-for-dollar by all Social Security and railroad retirement benefits you received, taxable or not. If those benefits total $30,000 or more, the pension deduction is zero.⁷

A retiree with $25,000 in Social Security and $40,000 from a pension can deduct only $5,000 of the pension income. Someone with $35,000 in Social Security gets no pension deduction at all, regardless of how much pension income sits on top.

Military retirement pay, including survivor benefits, is fully exempt from Maine income tax, and the Social Security offset does not apply to it.⁷

Credits That Reduce What You Owe

Maine’s earned income credit equals 25% of the federal EITC, or 50% if you have no qualifying children. It is fully refundable for residents and part-year residents, so a credit larger than your tax bill comes back as a refund. Non-residents can use it to reduce Maine tax to zero but cannot receive a refund from it.⁸

The Property Tax Fairness Credit is refundable for residents who paid property tax or rent on a primary home, subject to income and payment thresholds. You claim it on Form 1040ME with Schedule PTFC/STFC.⁹

The credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions lets a Maine resident offset Maine tax by the amount paid to another state on the same income.³

Filing Deadline, Extension, and Penalties

Maine returns are due April 15, or the next business day if that falls on a weekend or holiday.¹⁰ Maine automatically extends the filing deadline by six months, to October 15, with no request required. The extension covers filing only. Any tax owed still has to be paid by April 15 to avoid penalties and interest.

You file on Form 1040ME whether you are a resident, part-year resident, or non-resident. Maine Revenue Services offers free electronic filing through the Maine Tax Portal, and most commercial tax software supports Maine e-filing. Paper returns are still accepted.¹¹

Late-filing and late-payment penalties are separate and can stack. File late before Maine sends a formal demand and the penalty is $25 or 10% of the tax due, whichever is greater. Fail to file within 60 days after a formal demand and the penalty rises to $25 or 25% of the tax due.¹²

Late payment carries 1% of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month it remains outstanding, capped at 25%, with interest accruing on top. If you plan to use the automatic filing extension, pay as close to your full estimated liability as you can by April 15 to keep the penalty math small.¹²

1
Maine Revenue Services. Individual Income Tax 2026 Rates
2
Maine Revenue Services. Residency Status – Guidance Document
3
Cornell Law Institute. 18-125 CMR ch 807, 02 – General Information
4
Maine Revenue Services. Residency Safe Harbors
5
Cornell Law Institute. 18-125 CMR ch 807, 08 – Military Personnel
6
Maine Revenue Services. Consolidated Report on Maine Tax Conformity and the Provisions of Federal Public Law No. 119-21
7
Maine Revenue Services. Individual Income Tax FAQ
8
Maine Revenue Services. Maine Earned Income Credit (EIC)
9
Maine Revenue Services. Property Tax Fairness Credit Summary
10
Maine Revenue Services. List of Forms and Due Dates
11
Maine Revenue Services. Welcome to Maine Electronic Filing
12
Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 36, 187-B – Penalties