What is the Maine estate tax exemption?

Maine exempts the first $6.41 million of a taxable estate in 2024, an amount indexed for inflation each year. Estates valued at or below the exemption owe no Maine estate tax, while only the value above it is taxed.

What are the Maine estate tax rates?

Maine applies graduated rates to the amount above the exemption: 8% on the first $3 million over, 10% on the next $3 million, and 12% on anything beyond that. The rates apply only to the excess, not the whole estate.

Is the Maine estate tax the same as the federal estate tax?

No. Maine has its own estate tax with a much lower exemption than the federal level. An estate can owe Maine tax while owing no federal tax, because the federal exemption is far higher than Maine's $6.41 million.

Does Maine have an inheritance tax?

No. Maine has an estate tax, paid by the estate before assets are distributed, but it does not have a separate inheritance tax charged to beneficiaries. Heirs do not pay a Maine tax on what they receive.

Does the marital deduction reduce Maine estate tax?

Yes. Assets left to a surviving spouse generally qualify for an unlimited marital deduction, which lowers the taxable estate. Enter such transfers and other deductions in the deductions field so they are removed before the tax is figured.

Maine Estate Tax Calculator

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Maine is one of the states that levies its own estate tax, separate from the federal one, and with a much lower exemption. An estate worth several million dollars can owe Maine tax even when no federal tax is due. This calculator applies the Maine exemption and graduated rates to estimate the bill.

How it works

You start with the gross estate and subtract allowable deductions — debts, funeral costs, the marital deduction, and charitable gifts — to get the Maine taxable estate. Maine then exempts the first 6.41 million dollars (2024) and applies graduated rates to the excess:

over exemption, first $3,000,000:   8%
next $3,000,000:                    10%
amount beyond $6,000,000 over:      12%

Only the portion above the 6.41 million dollar exemption is taxed, so an estate just over the line owes very little.

Example

A 10 million dollar taxable estate is 3.59 million dollars over the 6.41 million exemption. The first 3 million of that excess is taxed at 8 percent (240,000 dollars) and the remaining 590,000 at 10 percent (59,000 dollars), for about 299,000 dollars of Maine estate tax.

Notes

This is a simplified estimate of the Maine estate tax only. It does not compute the federal estate tax, portability of a spouse’s exemption, prior taxable gifts, or the precise Maine apportionment for non-resident property. The exemption is indexed annually. Confirm with maine.gov/revenue and an estate attorney.