Maine Estate Tax Calculator
Estimate the combined federal and Maine estate tax on a Maine decedent’s estate. Maine is one of the few states with its own estate tax: a decoupled tax with an inflation-indexed exclusion ($6,800,000 for 2024, $7,000,000 for 2025) and graduated rates from 7.2% to 12% on the Maine base above the exclusion, filed on Form 706 ME. Maine has no inheritance tax and no gift tax. Three modes: estimate the tax, test a larger estate, or solve for the years of gifting needed to reach zero. Fields marked * are required; Calculate names any left empty.
Federal: unified estate and gift schedule topping at 40%; basic exclusion $13,610,000 (2024), $13,990,000 (2025), $15,000,000 (2026); federal portability (DSUE) allowed; unlimited marital and charitable deductions; GST 40%.
Exclusions and portability
Gross estate to taxable estate
Tax computation
What heirs receive
Maine succession
Gifting analysis
Three-year gifting projection
How it works
- Maine has its own estate tax. Maine’s estate tax is decoupled from federal: an inflation-indexed exclusion ($6,800,000 for 2024, $7,000,000 for 2025, 2026 pending) and graduated rates from 7.2% to 12% applied to the Maine base above the exclusion via a credit equal to the tax on the exclusion, so estates at or below the exclusion owe $0 (Form 706 ME). Exclusion and schedule flagged VERIFY.
- Federal estate tax also applies above the federal basic exclusion using the unified 18% to 40% schedule; the federal GST applies at 40% to direct skips above the allocated GST exemption.
- Portability is federal only. A surviving spouse may inherit the unused federal exclusion (DSUE) with a timely Form 706; Maine does not port its own exclusion.
- No community property. Maine is a common-law state, so no halving of community assets and no double basis step-up.
- Elective share. A surviving spouse may elect a statutory share (modeled at one-third of the net estate, 18-A M.R.S. 2-202; VERIFY) regardless of the will.
- Small estates. Collection of personal property by affidavit where personal property is $40,000 or less (18-A M.R.S. 3-1201; VERIFY current figure).
- Binding factor names what controls the result: the Maine exclusion, the federal exclusion, the federal unified schedule, or the GST.
- Gifting mode uses the guarded bisection solver (60 expansions, 90 iterations, rounded up). Because the Maine exclusion is far below the federal exclusion, eliminating all tax usually requires many decades of annual-exclusion gifting — the calculator reports this honestly.
- Gifting is not free. Carryover basis loses the step-up; the deferred gain is netted against the tax saved.
Sources
- 36 M.R.S. 6511 et seq. and Maine Form 706 ME (Maine estate tax, decoupled, indexed exclusion $6,800,000 for 2024 and $7,000,000 for 2025, graduated rates 7.2% to 12%) — VERIFY the 2026 exclusion and the rate schedule with Maine Revenue Services.
- 18-A M.R.S. 2-202 (spousal elective share; modeled one-third of the net estate, VERIFY); 18-A M.R.S. 3-1201 (small-estate affidavit, $40,000 personal property; VERIFY); Maine probate venue in the Probate Court of the county of domicile (16 counties).
- IRC chapter 11 unified schedule and exclusion ($13,610,000 / $13,990,000 / $15,000,000 for 2024 / 2025 / 2026); IRC 2010 portability; IRC 2042 life insurance inclusion; IRC 2055 charitable deduction; IRC chapter 13 GST at 40%; IRC 1014 step-up and 1015 carryover basis.
- IRS Form 706 and Form 4768 instructions (9-month deadline, 6-month filing extension).
Test cases
Gross 5,500,000; admin 104,400; deductions 419,400; net estate 5,080,600; TE 5,080,600 at or below 7,000,000 ME and 13,990,000 federal. Federal $0, Maine $0, TOTAL $0. Federal headroom 8,909,400; Maine headroom 1,919,400; ceiling 7,419,400. Affidavit NOT available (personal property 2,500,000).
Gross 11,000,000; admin 210,400; deductions 730,400; net estate 10,269,600; TE 10,269,600 above 7,000,000 ME but below 13,990,000 federal. Maine schedule 1,063,273.60 less credit 688,000 = MAINE 375,274. Federal $0. TOTAL 375,274. Effective 3.41%.
Gross 21,000,000; admin 412,400; deductions 837,400; net estate 20,162,600; less marital 5,000,000 = TE 15,162,600; federal exclusion 15,990,000 so Federal $0. Maine schedule 1,648,712 less credit 688,000 = MAINE 960,712. TOTAL 960,712. Effective 4.57%. Elective share one-third = 6,720,867.
Gross 19,000,000; admin 374,400; deductions 689,400; net estate 18,310,600; TE 18,310,600. Federal 1,324,240; Maine 1,338,472; TOTAL 2,662,712. Solver must reach the LOWER Maine exclusion 7,000,000: 76,000/yr requires 149 YEARS (removes 11,324,000 leaving TE 6,986,600), tax $0. Saved 2,662,712.
Gross 35,000; admin 960; deductions 5,960; net estate 29,040; TE 29,040 at or below both exclusions. Federal $0, Maine $0, TOTAL $0. Affidavit available (personal property 35,000 at or below 40,000). Elective share one-third = 9,680. Maine headroom 6,970,960; ceiling 7,005,960.
Estimates only. Not legal, tax or financial advice. The Maine 2026 exclusion, rate schedule and elective share are flagged for verification against 36 M.R.S. 6511, Form 706 ME and 18-A M.R.S. 2-202. Verify all figures with Maine Revenue Services and federal rules before relying on them.
What Is the Maine Estate Tax Calculator?
The Maine estate tax calculator estimates combined federal, Maine, and federal GST transfer taxes from estate assets, deductions, earlier taxable gifts, portability, and direct skips. It also shows exclusion headroom, estimated amounts passing to other heirs, filing indicators, a small-estate test, and gifting projections using the assumptions encoded in the calculator.
Users can enter real property, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement assets, life insurance, business or personal property, debts, funeral expenses, administration costs, marital and charitable bequests, prior gifts, federal DSUE, and GST information. County selection determines the Probate Court venue shown in the results, not a county-specific estate tax rate.
The results are estimates rather than tax-return calculations or legal determinations. The calculator itself flags the 2026 Maine exclusion, its simplified Maine rate schedule, elective-share assumption, and small-estate figure for verification.
How the Maine Estate Tax Calculation Works
The calculation begins by adding the five asset categories to produce the gross estate.
Administration costs include the entered attorney and executor fee percentage plus Probate Court and other costs. The implemented fee percentage is applied to gross estate minus debts, with a minimum base of zero. This is more specific than the field label’s reference to a percentage of the net estate.
If the decedent is marked as married, a marital deduction is allowed only when the surviving spouse is a U.S. citizen or the bequest is marked as passing to a QDOT. The marital deduction cannot exceed the net estate. The charitable deduction is limited to what remains after that deduction.
Earlier taxable gifts are then added to the taxable estate for both the federal and Maine tax bases.
For Maine, the calculator applies its progressive schedule to the full Maine base and subtracts the schedule tax calculated at the applicable Maine exclusion. If the base does not exceed the exclusion, Maine estate tax is zero.
Here, BME is the Maine base, EME is the Maine exclusion for the selected year, and SME is the progressive schedule encoded in the calculator.
| Maine schedule slice | Encoded rate |
|---|---|
| $0 to $250,000 | 7.2% |
| $250,000 to $500,000 | 7.6% |
| $500,000 to $750,000 | 8.0% |
| $750,000 to $1,000,000 | 8.4% |
| $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 | 8.8% |
| $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 | 9.2% |
| $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 | 9.6% |
| $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 | 10.0% |
| $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 | 10.4% |
| $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 | 10.8% |
| $6,000,000 to $8,000,000 | 11.2% |
| $8,000,000 to $10,700,000 | 11.6% |
| Above $10,700,000 | 12.0% |
The calculator marks this Maine schedule for verification. For 2024 it uses a $6,800,000 exclusion. For 2025 and 2026 it uses $7,000,000, with the 2026 figure specifically shown as pending indexation.
Federal DSUE is added to the federal basic exclusion. The calculator uses $13,610,000 for 2024, $13,990,000 for 2025, and $15,000,000 for 2026. Maine does not receive the DSUE amount. For the years offered, the federal estate-tax result when the base exceeds the applicable exclusion is mathematically equivalent to:
Federal GST tax is calculated separately from direct skips.
Worked Example
Suppose a 2025 estate includes $6,000,000 of real property, $3,000,000 of financial assets, and $2,000,000 of retirement assets. Assume $500,000 of debts, $20,000 of funeral expenses, a 2% attorney and executor fee, and $400 of court costs.
The gross estate is $11,000,000. Administration costs are ($11,000,000 − $500,000) × 2% + $400 = $210,400. Total modeled deductions are $730,400, leaving a net and taxable estate of $10,269,600 when no marital deduction, charitable deduction, gifting, or earlier taxable gifts apply.
The calculator’s Maine schedule produces $1,063,273.60 on the $10,269,600 base. Its schedule tax at the $7,000,000 Maine exclusion is $688,000. The difference is $375,273.60, displayed as $375,274. Federal estate tax is $0 because the base is below the calculator’s 2025 federal exclusion. Total transfer tax is therefore $375,274, with an effective rate of 3.41% of the gross estate.
How to Use the Maine Estate Tax Calculator
- Choose estate-tax mode, larger-estate headroom mode, or the gifting-years mode.
- Select the year of death: 2024, 2025, or 2026.
- Select the Maine county of domicile for the displayed Probate Court venue.
- Enter real property, financial assets, retirement accounts, owned life insurance, and business or other property.
- Enter debts, funeral expenses, the attorney and executor fee percentage, court costs, and casualty or theft losses.
- Complete the marital-status, spousal-bequest, charitable-bequest, earlier-gift, DSUE, and GST fields that apply.
- For gifting mode, enter the number of donees, annual gift per donee, unrealized gain, capital-gains rate, NIIT choice, and maximum years to test.
- Check the required acknowledgment and select the calculation button.
Estate mode shows total transfer tax. Headroom mode reports whether tax applies and displays remaining federal and Maine headroom plus a tax-free ceiling. Gifting mode searches for the first whole number of years, within the selected maximum, that reduces the modeled total transfer tax to zero.
Understanding the Results and Assumptions
Annual-Exclusion Gifting
The calculator uses an annual exclusion of $18,000 per donee for 2024 and $19,000 for 2025 and 2026. For estate reduction, each donee’s annual gift is capped at that year’s encoded exclusion even if a higher amount is entered.
The gifting solver can test up to 200 years. It uses repeated numerical searches and then rounds the required result up to the next whole year. If the modeled tax cannot reach zero within the chosen maximum, the result reports that more than the selected number of years would be required.
Carryover-Basis Estimate
The gifting analysis also estimates deferred capital gains on the unrealized gain entered. It uses the selected 0%, 15%, or 20% long-term capital-gains rate. If the NIIT box is checked, 3.8 percentage points are added. The calculator subtracts this estimated basis cost from modeled transfer-tax savings to display a net benefit.
Headroom and Tax-Free Ceiling
Federal headroom is the unused portion of the federal applicable exclusion after the federal base. Maine headroom is the unused portion of the selected year’s Maine exclusion after the Maine base. The calculator’s tax-free ceiling adds the smaller of those two remaining amounts to the current gross estate.
Small-Estate and Elective-Share Results
The small-estate test adds financial accounts, retirement assets, life insurance, and business or other personal property. If that total is $40,000 or less, the calculator marks the small-estate affidavit as potentially available. Real property is not included in this test. The $40,000 figure is explicitly flagged for verification in the calculator.
If the decedent is marked as married, the calculator estimates the spousal elective share as one-third of the calculated net estate. This is a simplified modeled figure and is also flagged for verification.
Other Displayed Results
The calculator displays federal and Maine filing indicators, Probate Court venue, net estate, estimated net to other heirs, taxable direct skips, a three-year gifting projection, and the factor described as controlling the tax result. It also reports a filing deadline of nine months after death and notes a six-month federal filing extension.
Currency results are rounded to the nearest whole dollar. The effective transfer-tax rate is displayed to two decimal places. The separate marginal-rate indicator is simplified: it shows 12% when only Maine estate tax applies, 40% when only federal estate tax applies, and 52% when both apply.
Most monetary input fields accept values from $0 through $100,000,000. The attorney and executor fee accepts 0% through 25%. The donee count accepts 0 through 200, while the maximum-years field accepts 1 through 200. Required fields and the acknowledgment must be completed before calculation.
Estate Tax Calculators for All 50 U.S. States
Frequently Asked Questions
What Maine estate-tax exclusion does the calculator use?
It uses $6,800,000 for a 2024 death and $7,000,000 for 2025. For 2026, the code also uses $7,000,000 but labels that amount as pending Maine’s annual adjustment. The calculator expressly tells users to verify the 2026 figure.
How does the calculator determine Maine estate tax?
It applies its encoded progressive schedule to the Maine base, then subtracts the schedule tax calculated at the applicable Maine exclusion. The result is zero when the Maine base does not exceed the exclusion. The encoded marginal rates range from 7.2% to 12%.
Does federal DSUE increase Maine’s exclusion?
No. The DSUE amount entered is added only to the federal basic exclusion. The calculator does not add it to Maine’s exclusion, and the results identify portability of Maine’s unused exclusion as not allowed.
Does the county change the estate-tax amount?
No. County selection does not change the Maine tax formula. It determines the Probate Court venue displayed in the succession section. The same statewide tax logic is used for all 16 listed Maine counties.
How does the calculator handle gifts?
The gifting model caps the effective annual gift per donee at $18,000 for 2024 or $19,000 for 2025 and 2026. It multiplies that amount by the number of donees and gifting years, then subtracts the result from the estate before recalculating federal, Maine, and GST transfer taxes.
Does the calculator include generation-skipping transfer tax?
Yes. It subtracts the GST exemption amount entered from direct skips and applies 40% to any positive remainder. The GST exemption field defaults to $0. The calculator does not automatically populate that input with the selected year’s federal basic exclusion.
Are these exact tax or probate results?
No. They are estimates based on the calculator’s encoded rules and user-entered values. Actual estate-tax liability, deductions, valuations, filing requirements, probate procedures, and gifting consequences may differ. The calculator specifically marks several Maine assumptions for verification before relying on them.