Maine income tax, by filing status
Tax year 2026
Tax on a $75,000 salary
$3,742
4.99% of pay, single filer
Against other states
4 of 51
1 takes the most
Top rate
9.15%
on the highest incomes only
Tax-free first
$15,700
of income, single filer
What filing status changes in Maine
- Maine widens its bands for married couples, but not all the way to double. Some of the 4 bands stretch further than others, so marrying helps — just less than you might expect.
- Maine gives head of household its own schedule, sitting between the single and joint tables. If you are raising children alone, filing under the wrong status costs you real money here.
- Maine lets a single filer keep $15,700 before tax starts, and doubles that to $31,400 for a couple. Straightforward, and not something every state does.
- Maine's joint schedule widens relative to single without doubling uniformly across its 4 bands. The result is a partial marriage penalty concentrated wherever the widening falls short, typically toward the about 9.15% top rate. This shape is the most common of the three nationally and the hardest to reason about from a rate table.
- Maine publishes a distinct head-of-household bracket schedule rather than reusing the single table. The thresholds sit between the single and joint schedules, so status selection is consequential — a qualifying filer who defaults to single overpays, and the difference is invisible in any comparison that tabulates single rates only.
- Maine's standard deduction is $15,700 for single filers and exactly double at $31,400 for joint filers. Exact doubling makes the deduction marriage-neutral; states that widen it by less than double impose a penalty at the very bottom of the schedule, where it is least visible and proportionally largest.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,742
- Yours$57,850
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.99% | $3,742 |
| Yours77.13% | $57,850 |
Your next $1,000
A $75,000 salary
| Federal, on the next dollar | 22% |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare | 7.65% |
| State, on the next dollar | 6.75% |
| Taken from the next $1,000 | $364 |
Rates shown are federal, Social Security and Medicare, and state. Any local tax is inside the kept amount.
How this state ranks, at this income
A $75,000 salary
| Take-home in Maine | $57,850 |
|---|---|
| Rank once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | 32nd of 51 |
| Most take-home at this income | South Dakota · $61,593 |
| Best once prices are leveled | South Dakota |
State income tax only — no city or county income tax is applied to any state here.
Your two tax rates
A $75,000 salary
- Next dollar36.4%
- All your pay22.87%
| On the next dollar | 36.4% |
|---|---|
| Across all your pay | 22.87% |
| The gap | 13.53% |
| Tax this year | $17,150 |
The outer ring shows tax on your next dollar. The inner ring shows tax as a share of all your pay.
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
Maine's ladder
A $75,000 salary
| Rungs in this state | 5 |
|---|---|
| Top rate begins | $1,015,700 |
Measured on gross pay, so any state standard deduction shows as a 0% first rung.
What filing status is worth
A $75,000 salary
| Single | $57,850 |
|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $62,094 |
| Married filing separately | $57,850 |
| Head of household | $60,432 |
What each status computes to at this income. Which one you may use depends on your household.
The part never taxed
A $75,000 salary
- Never taxed$16,100
- Taxable$58,900
| Share of your pay | 21.47% |
|---|---|
| Taxable after it | $58,900 |
Federal income tax only. Social Security and Medicare start at the first dollar you earn.
The tax with a ceiling
A $75,000 salary
| Wage base | $184,500 |
|---|---|
| Social Security rate | 6.2% |
| Medicare surtax begins | $200,000 |
Social Security stops at the wage base. Medicare does not, and gains a surtax higher up.
What no income tax costs instead
A $75,000 salary
- Income
- Sales
- Property
| Income tax saved | $3,742 |
|---|---|
| Sales and property added | $0 |
| States with none | 9 |
Against the average of the states with no income tax. Stated assumptions: 30% spent taxably, a $300,000 home.
Maine, by when it bites
A $75,000 salary
| 2026-01-05 | Increased the cigarette tax from $2.00 to $3.50 per pack, smokeless tobacco from $2.02 to $3.54, and nicotine/vapor tax from 43% to 75% of cost. |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | Decreased the adult-use cannabis excise taxes (flower $335 to $223/lb) and increased the cannabis sales tax from 10% to 14%. |
Green moves a tax down, red moves it up, blue changes the structure without a clear direction.
Tax brackets — Single
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $27,400 | 5.8% |
| $27,400 – $64,850 | 6.75% |
| $64,850 – $1,000,000 | 7.15% |
| Over $1,000,000 | 9.15% |
Tax brackets — Married filing jointly
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $54,850 | 5.8% |
| $54,850 – $129,750 | 6.75% |
| $129,750 – $1,500,000 | 7.15% |
| Over $1,500,000 | 9.15% |
Tax brackets — Head of household
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $41,100 | 5.8% |
| $41,100 – $97,300 | 6.75% |
| $97,300 – $1,500,000 | 7.15% |
| Over $1,500,000 | 9.15% |
Tax brackets — Married filing separately
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $27,400 | 5.8% |
| $27,400 – $64,850 | 6.75% |
| $64,850 – $750,000 | 7.15% |
| Over $750,000 | 9.15% |
What you'd actually owe, by filing status
Same gross income, four filing statuses. The gap between columns is entirely Maine's own schedule and deduction — federal tax and FICA are not included here.
| Gross income | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $2,055 | $1,079 | $1,534 | $2,055 |
| $75,000 | $3,742 | $2,529 | $3,082 | $3,742 |
| $100,000 | $5,508 | $4,109 | $4,770 | $5,508 |
Questions people ask
If I earn more, does the higher rate apply to everything?
Income is taxed band by band, never all at once. about 9.15% is what the last slice pays; about 4.99% is what the whole actually loses.
Is there an amount this state does not tax at all?
There is a floor. A single filer's first $15,700 is untouched, between the standard deduction and any zero-rate opening band, and the schedule only bites above it.
Can filing together cost us more than filing apart?
Possibly. Joint bands are wider than single ones but less than twice as wide, so two comparable earners can hit a higher rate together than either would alone.
Does the tax-free allowance double when we file together?
Yes, exactly twice: $15,700 single, $31,400 joint. The allowance is neutral even where the brackets are not.
Is there a different schedule if I am not single or married?
More than two schedules exist here. The status on the return picks the thresholds, and they are not simply scaled versions of each other.
How do this state's marginal rates apply across income?
Maine applies each marginal rate only to income within its bracket. The top marginal rate is about 9.15%; measured effective liability at this project's representative income is about 4.99%. Crossing a threshold cannot reduce net income.
Where does state income tax liability begin here?
Liability commences above $15,700 for a single filer, comprising the standard deduction and any zero-rate opening bracket. Filers below that threshold owe no state income tax, though a return may still be required.
Does this schedule create a marriage penalty?
Joint thresholds in Maine exceed single thresholds but by less than a factor of two, producing a marriage penalty for couples with comparable incomes. The penalty is zero where one spouse has little income and rises with the symmetry of the two incomes.
How does the standard deduction scale for joint filers here?
The standard deduction doubles exactly for joint filers — $15,700 to $31,400 — so the deduction component is marriage-neutral. Bracket thresholds scale independently and may not be.
Which filing statuses carry their own schedule here?
Maine publishes distinct bracket schedules for filing statuses beyond single and married-filing-jointly. Thresholds are set independently rather than derived by scaling, so status selection materially changes liability and cannot be approximated from the single schedule.