5 Rules That Decide Who Gets Maine’s Property Tax Fairness Credit
Maine’s Property Tax Fairness Credit doesn’t pay anything until your property tax tops 4% of your income.
Whether you own or rent, other details decide whether you qualify, too.
Here are the rules that decide who gets Maine’s Property Tax Fairness Credit.
Note: This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Credit rules and dollar amounts are subject to change, so confirm the current details with Maine Revenue Services.
1. Maine Residency
Maine counts you as a resident for the credit if you lived in the state during any part of the tax year, according to Maine Revenue Services.
Say you moved to Portland in June.
Per the 2025 Schedule PTFC, you’d enter only the property tax or rent you paid while you were a Maine resident.
The same goes if you moved away in September.
A full year isn’t required.
2. Your Primary Home
Does the Property Tax Fairness Credit still apply to a Waterville retiree whose house sits in a revocable living trust?
A home held in a revocable living trust for your benefit still qualifies.
The State of Maine can pay your town’s bill, too, through the Property Tax Deferral Program.
That amount has counted as property tax you paid since the 2022 tax year.
The Property Tax Fairness Credit covers the home you live in as your primary residence, whether you own it or rent it.
A house, an apartment, a duplex unit, a co-op unit, a condominium unit or a mobile home can all be that home.
If you own, the 2025 Schedule PTFC asks for the property tax on your house and house lot up to 10 acres.
A second home or a rental property you don’t live in doesn’t count.
Renters qualify too.
Maine treats 15% of your rent, not counting heat, utilities or furnishings, as property tax.
Mortgage payments don’t count as rent, and neither does rent a government program pays.
3. Income Limits
For tax year 2025, a single Maine filer’s income has to be less than $63,750.
Earn $60,000 and you’re in range, but earn $64,000 and you’re not.
Your limit as head of household is $82,500 with up to one dependent and $101,250 with more.
Married couples filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses get $82,500 with no dependents and $101,250 with at least one.
If you’re 65 or older, the limit is $102,500, and the maximum credit rises to $2,000.
On a joint return, only one spouse has to be 65 or older to reach the higher maximum.
The limit is firm.
A single filer at exactly $63,750 is out.
Social Security payments go into that total, even the part your federal return leaves out.
Railroad retirement benefits go in too.
For a retired couple in Aroostook County, that total can look bigger than their federal return suggests.
Psst! How much do you know about Maine’s taxes? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
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4. Your 4% Threshold
Your property tax has to top 4% of your total income before the credit pays anything.
If your total income is $40,000, your property tax has to run above $1,600.
Maine treats 15% of rent as property tax, so renters face a matching bar.
If your rent includes no heat, utilities or furnishings, it has to top 26.67% of your total income.
The credit is the gap between your property tax, up to a benefit base, and that 4% line.
It tops out at $1,000 for 2025 if you're under 65 and $2,000 at 65 and older.
A higher income raises that 4% line.
More income, smaller credit.
How the Property Tax Fairness Credit Adds Up
The Property Tax Fairness Credit counts your property tax or rent share only up to a set benefit base.
For 2025, that base is $2,550 for a single filer under 65, and $4,100 for filers 65 and older.
Take a single renter under 65 who earns $24,000 and pays $9,600 a year in rent, with heat and utilities paid separately.
Maine treats 15% of that rent, or $1,440, as property tax, which sits under the $2,550 base.
Four percent of $24,000 is $960, so the credit is the $480 difference.
In that $40,000 case, a single homeowner under 65 with a $3,000 property tax bill is counted only up to the $2,550 base, so the credit is $950.
5. Your Filing Status
You can't claim the Property Tax Fairness Credit if your filing status is married filing separately.
If you're married and file two returns, neither of you can claim it.
Limits are listed for single filers, heads of household, married couples filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses.
It's a hard stop.
Ask a professional before you choose how to file.
Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit by Tax Year
You file Form 1040ME with Schedule PTFC for the tax year during which you paid the property tax or rent, so a 2025 claim uses the 2025 schedule.
Maine's due date for Form 1040ME is April 15 for calendar-year filers, or the next business day if April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday.
Behind on an older year?
Maine House Democrats say returns can be filed or amended back three tax years to claim the credit.
The credit is refundable, so Maine sends you any amount above your Maine income tax.
The 2025 Schedule PTFC says you may be asked to provide proof of the property tax you paid before a refund is issued.
The credit also gets bigger starting with your 2026 return.
In 2026, Maine's supplemental budget expanded it, and for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, the maximum for filers under 65 rises to $1,500.
Filers 65 and older stay at $2,000.
The $63,750 single-filer limit is a 2025 figure, and each tax year's schedule lists the limits again.
FAQ
Here are quick answers on the Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit for renters, homeowners and anyone who owes no income tax.
Who qualifies for the Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit?
Maine residents qualify when they paid property tax or rent on their primary home, are under the income limit for their filing status and aren't married filing separately.
Their property tax, or the share of rent Maine counts as property tax, also has to top 4% of total income.
Can renters get the Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit?
Yes.
Maine treats 15% of your rent, not counting heat, utilities or furnishings, as property tax.
Do you have to owe Maine income tax to claim the credit?
No.
The credit is refundable, so you receive any amount above your income tax as a refund.
How do you claim the Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit?
File Form 1040ME with Schedule PTFC for the year you paid the property tax or rent.
Maine House Democrats say returns can be filed or amended back three tax years to claim the credit.
How much is the Maine Property Tax Fairness Credit?
For 2025, it's up to $1,000 if you're under 65 and up to $2,000 at 65 and older.
For 2026, the maximum for filers under 65 rises to $1,500.
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