Maine income tax rates and brackets for 2025 and 2026

Maine taxes income at 5.8%, 6.75% and 7.15% (36 M.R.S. §5111), and the bracket amounts are indexed for inflation every year. Head of household brackets for 2026 are under $41,100 at 5.8%, $41,100 to $97,300 at 6.75%, and $97,300 and over at 7.15%.

Maine’s supplemental budget, enacted April 10, 2026, adds a 2% income tax surcharge for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 (36 M.R.S. §5111(7)). It applies to the part of Maine taxable income over $1,000,000 for single filers, $1,500,000 for heads of household, joint filers and surviving spouses, and $750,000 for married filing separately. Trusts and estates pay it at the single amount. The thresholds are adjusted for inflation from 2027. The surcharge does not apply to 2025 returns.

Form 1040ME starts from federal adjusted gross income, adds and subtracts Maine adjustments to reach Maine AGI, then takes off a standard or itemized deduction and personal exemptions. For 2025 and 2026 Maine sets its own standard deduction; from 2027 it will equal the federal one. Maine also keeps a personal exemption, which the federal return no longer has. Both the deduction and the exemption phase out at higher incomes, and Maine itemized deductions other than medical expenses are capped at $36,300 for 2025.

For example, a single filer with $60,000 of wages has $39,850 of Maine taxable income for 2025 after the $15,000 standard deduction and $5,150 exemption, and owes about $2,435. For 2026, with a $15,700 deduction and $5,300 exemption, taxable income is $39,000 and the tax about $2,372.

The July 2025 federal tax law (Public Law 119-21) created deductions for 2025 through 2028 for qualified tips (up to $25,000), overtime pay (up to $12,500, or $25,000 joint), car loan interest (up to $10,000) and an extra $6,000 for people 65 or older. Maine has not adopted them. Maine Revenue Services’ Office of Tax Policy explains that federal deductions taken after adjusted gross income are not automatically part of Maine law, and the 2026 session added no Maine version. So tips and overtime remain taxed in Maine.

Maine does not tax Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits; the federally taxable part is subtracted on Schedule 1S. Military retirement pay, including survivor benefits, is fully exempt.

Other retirement income, including pensions, 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans and IRAs, gets a deduction of up to $48,216 per person for 2025 and $49,824 for 2026. The cap is reduced by the Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits you receive, taxable or not. From 2025 the deduction also phases out when federal AGI is over $125,000 for single filers, $187,500 for heads of household and $250,000 for joint filers. Early distributions before 55, Roth conversions and lump sums do not qualify.

Most of Maine’s credits for families and lower-income households are refundable for residents.

A Maine resident files if they must file a federal return, or if they owe Maine tax without a federal filing requirement. A nonresident files if they work in Maine for more than 12 days and earn more than $3,000 from Maine sources. Everyone files Form 1040ME; part-year residents, nonresidents and safe harbor residents add Schedule NR (or NRH for some married couples).

Maine returns are due on the federal due date: 2025 returns were due April 15, 2026, and 2026 returns are due April 15, 2027. A six-month extension to file is automatic, but to avoid late payment penalties you must pay at least 90% of the tax by the original due date. Maine e-filing is free through the Maine Tax Portal.

Check a Maine refund with “Where’s My Refund?” on the Maine Tax Portal at revenue.maine.gov. It asks for the tax year, your Social Security number or ITIN, and the refund amount. Maine Revenue Services does not publish a standard processing time; the portal says that if it has been more than eight weeks since you filed and you have heard nothing, call (207) 624-9784.

Refunds can be taken for debts such as federal taxes, child support and student loans. You have three years from the original due date, or from when the tax was paid if later, to claim a refund.

You are a Maine resident if Maine is your domicile, or if you keep a permanent home in Maine all year and spend more than 183 days there. A Maine-domiciled person with no Maine home, a home elsewhere and no more than 30 days in Maine in the year is treated as a nonresident under the safe harbor. Part-year residents figure tax as if resident all year, then take a nonresident credit on Schedule NR.

New Hampshire does not tax wages, so a Maine resident who works in New Hampshire has no other-state tax to credit and Maine taxes the full wages; New Hampshire residents who work in Maine file Form 1040ME with Schedule NR. Maine also says wages earned while working in Maine, including working from home for an out-of-state employer, cannot be sourced to another state for the credit. We found no reciprocal agreement in Maine’s guidance.