Maine Income Tax Calculator 2026

Maine’s brackets and the new top surcharge

Maine taxes income at 5.8%, 6.75% and 7.15%. For single filers the 6.75% rate starts at $27,400 and the 7.15% rate at $64,850; married couples have brackets roughly twice as wide. From 2026, a 2% surcharge applies above $1,000,000 for single filers and $1,500,000 for joint filers, for a top rate of 9.15%.

Taxable income is Maine AGI minus the standard deduction ($15,700 single, $31,400 joint) and a personal exemption of $5,300 per person. Both shrink at higher incomes, so households above roughly $100,000 (single) should not assume they get the full amounts.

Worked example: single filer earning $75,000

A single filer with $75,000 of wages subtracts the $15,700 standard deduction and the $5,300 exemption, leaving $54,000 of taxable income. The first $27,400 is taxed at 5.8% and the remaining $26,600 at 6.75%, for total Maine tax of about $3,385, or 4.51% of gross income.

Pension income, Social Security and military retirement

Maine fully exempts Social Security benefits and U.S. military retirement pay, including survivor benefits. Other pensions get a capped deduction.

For 2025, you and your spouse may each deduct up to $48,216 of eligible pension income, including state and federal pensions, 401(k), 403(b) and IRA distributions. The cap is reduced by any Social Security and railroad retirement benefits you received, taxable or not. Starting in 2025, the pension deduction also phases out at higher federal AGI, and early distributions taken before age 55 that are not part of a series of equal payments no longer qualify.

Retirees from the Maine Public Employees Retirement System who retired after 1988 can also subtract their previously taxed pick-up contributions.

Credits that put money back

Several Maine credits are refundable, so they can produce a refund even if you owe no tax.

• Dependent exemption tax credit: $305 per qualifying dependent in 2025, indexed for inflation and refundable.
• Property Tax Fairness Credit for residents whose property tax or rent is high relative to income.
• Sales Tax Fairness Credit for lower- and middle-income residents.
• Child care credit, with a refundable portion.

Residency, safe harbors and filing

Maine treats some domiciliaries as nonresidents. Under the general safe harbor, if Maine was your domicile but you kept no permanent home in Maine, kept one elsewhere, and spent no more than 30 days in Maine during the year, you file as a nonresident. A foreign safe harbor applies to people who spend at least 450 days abroad in a 548-day period.

Part-year residents, nonresidents and safe harbor residents file Form 1040ME with Schedule NR or NRH. The 2026 return is due April 15, 2027.