Maine reissued its 2026 withholding tables in August, and the January version is still sitting on the same website. Anyone working from the older file has two things wrong at once: a stale standard deduction, and no sign of the new surcharge that arrived this year.
On a $75,000 salary with one allowance, a single filer keeps about $57,641, after $3,577 of Maine income tax and $375 for Paid Family and Medical Leave.
The deduction melts away between $102,250 and $177,250
Maine’s withholding deduction is $12,850 for a single filer and $28,550 for a married one. It holds at that maximum up to $102,250 of annualised wages, then falls away on a straight line, reaching zero at $177,250.
| Annual wage | Deduction remaining | Maine tax |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $12,850 | $5,333 |
| $120,000 | $9,809 | $6,980 |
| $150,000 | $4,669 | $9,492 |
| $177,250 | $0 | $11,775 |
The phase-out reads your wage, not your taxable income, and that has a consequence worth knowing. Claiming more allowances lowers what you are taxed on, but it does not move you back down the phase-out, because Maine applies the taper to the wage figure before allowances are subtracted. So the usual lever stops working on exactly the people it would help most. Across the taper a single filer loses about 17 cents of deduction per extra dollar earned, which at the 7.15% top rate adds roughly 1.2 points to the marginal rate.
One more wrinkle: the withholding deduction is deliberately smaller than the one on the annual return, which uses $15,700 and $31,400. A Maine reader comparing the two will see a gap, and it is not a mistake.
A new 2% surcharge
For tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, Maine adds a surcharge of 2% on annualised income above $1,000,000 for single filers, or $1,500,000 for married. It takes the top rate from 7.15% to an effective 9.15%.
Unlike several states where a top-end provision exists only on the annual return, this one is in the withholding calculation, so it comes off each paycheck rather than arriving as a bill. It is also the clearest reason not to work from the January file, which does not mention it at all.
Allowances, and the head of household catch
Each allowance on Form W-4ME takes $5,300 a year off your wages before the deduction is applied. Maine kept its own allowance form when the federal W-4 dropped allowances, so this is a separate decision from anything on your federal form.
Head of household has no schedule of its own. The W-4ME offers only “Single or Head of Household”, “Married”, and “Married but withholding at higher single rate”, so a head of household runs on the single table. What it does get is one extra allowance, and the worksheet tells you to claim it yourself. Nothing adds it for you, so if you file as head of household and did not count that line, you are an allowance short.
Paid Leave is a ceiling, not a rate
Maine began collecting Paid Family and Medical Leave contributions in 2025. The joint rate is 1% of wages for employers with fifteen or more employees, who may deduct up to half of it from you, and 0.5% for smaller employers, who may deduct the whole amount.
Either way your ceiling is 0.5%, which is what the calculator shows: $375 a year on $75,000. Your employer may choose to absorb part of it, so a smaller figure on your stub is not an error.
The rest is federal: about $7,670 of income tax, which your W-4 controls, and $5,738 of Social Security and Medicare. Maine has no local wage taxes.
Maine paycheck calculator FAQ
5.8% on the first $27,400 of taxable income for a single filer, 6.75% to $64,850 and 7.15% above that. New for 2026, a surcharge of 2% applies to annualised income above $1,000,000 for single filers or $1,500,000 for married, taking the effective top rate to 9.15%.
Two possible reasons. The withholding deduction of $12,850 single or $28,550 married is deliberately smaller than the $15,700 and $31,400 used on the annual return. And above $102,250 of wages it phases out on a straight line, reaching zero at $177,250.
Not for the phase-out itself. Maine applies the taper to your annualised wage before allowances are subtracted, so claiming more allowances lowers your taxable income but does not restore any of the deduction.
Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave. The joint rate is 1% of wages for employers with fifteen or more employees, who may deduct up to half from you, and 0.5% for smaller employers, who may deduct it all. Your ceiling is 0.5% either way, and your employer may absorb some of it.