Updated October 7, 2026. Quick answer: Maine’s estate tax exclusion is $7,160,000 for deaths in 2026. The 2027 figure comes from a statutory Chained CPI formula that the assessor applies on or about September 15, and the Maine Revenue Services pages read for this page do not list a 2027 amount yet. The federal exclusion is $15,000,000 for 2026.
Maine estate tax exemption: 2026 and 2027 at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Exemption, 2026 deaths | $7,160,000 |
| How it is set | Adjusted each year by Chained CPI under 36 M.R.S. section 4119 |
| 2027 figure | Not published in the documents read; the statute sets the adjustment on or about September 15 |
| Rates | 8%, 10% and 12% on the excess over the exclusion |
| Return and deadline | Form 706ME, due nine months after death |
| Federal basic exclusion amount, 2026 | $15,000,000 |
| Sources | Maine Revenue Services; Maine Legislature (Revisor); IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
What changes in 2027
Maine Revenue Services lists the exclusion for decedents dying in 2026 at $7,160,000. Under 36 M.R.S. section 4119 the assessor adjusts the amount each year on or about September 15 for the estates of decedents who die in the following year, using the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12 months ending June 30 compared with the same measure for the 12 months ending June 30, 2017.
CMG recomputed the 2026 figure from that formula and archived Bureau of Labor Statistics data: $5,600,000 times the 12-month Chained CPI-U average to June 2025 (176.417) divided by the average to June 2017 (137.916) is a computed $7,163,298 before the statute rounds the increase to the nearest $10,000. That reproduces the published $7,160,000.
The same recomputation cannot be completed for 2027 from the archived data: the 12 months ending June 2026 include October 2025, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics series archived for this page has no value for that month. CMG therefore does not estimate the 2027 figure; it will be the assessor’s announced amount.
How the Maine estate tax works
Maine taxes only the amount above the exclusion, in three bands, as the rate table below shows. The return, Form 706ME, is due nine months after the date of death.
Computed example at the 2026 figure: a Maine taxable estate of $9,160,000 is $2,000,000 over the exclusion, so the 8% tax is $160,000. This is an illustration, not a figure from Maine Revenue Services.
In the documents’ own words
- Estate Tax (706ME) (Maine Revenue Services): “decedents dying in 2026, the annual exclusion amount is $7,160,000”
- 36 M.R.S. 4119 Annual adjustments for inflation (Maine Legislature (Revisor)): “Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30th”
- 36 M.R.S. 4119 Annual adjustments for inflation (Maine Legislature (Revisor)): “on or about September 15th, for the estates of decedents who die”
Maine estate tax rates as the state prints them
Copied from the state’s own document: Table A of the 2026 Form 706ME instructions, applied to the amount on line 5 of the return.
| Over | Up to | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $7,160,000 | $0 |
| more than $7,160,000 | $10,160,000 | 8% of the excess over $7,160,000 |
| more than $10,160,000 | $13,160,000 | $240,000 plus 10% of the excess over $10,160,000 |
| more than $13,160,000 | and over | $540,000 plus 12% of the excess over $13,160,000 |
How this compares with the federal exemption
Federal estate tax is separate. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, section 70106, increased the “basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026”. CMG’s page on the federal exemption for 2027 is the federal estate tax exemption for 2027. The state figure on this page is not the federal one: it is the amount at which Maine starts to tax an estate.
What the documents do not say
- Neither the agency’s estate tax page nor the 2026 Form 706ME instructions lists a 2027 exclusion amount.
- The documents read do not state whether Maine allows a surviving spouse to carry over an unused exclusion.
Common mistakes
- Using the federal $15,000,000 base for a Maine estate.
- Guessing next year’s Maine exclusion from the 2026 increase instead of waiting for the assessor’s figure.
Related: Maine estate tax (2026), estate tax by state, the federal estate tax exemption for 2027, Maine probate cost, and Maine retirement taxes.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Maine Estate Tax Return (Form 706ME), 2026: https://www.maine.gov/revenue/sites/maine.gov.revenue/files/inline-files/26_706ME_instructions.pdf
- Estate Tax (706ME): https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/income-estate-tax/estate-tax-706me
- 36 M.R.S. 4119 Annual adjustments for inflation: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/36/title36sec4119.html
- 36 M.R.S. 4102 Definitions: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/36/title36sec4102.html
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Service): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and an estate attorney, a tax preparer or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.