Maine Senior Property Tax Relief: Property Tax Fairness Credit Guide

Maine senior property tax relief starts with the Property Tax Fairness Credit, a refundable state income-tax credit worth up to $2,000 for homeowners and renters who are 65 or older.1 For many Maine seniors on a fixed income, a rising tax bill is what stands between staying in the family home and having to leave it. This credit puts money back in your pocket, and it covers renters as well as homeowners.

For the 2025 tax year, a claimant who was at least 65 during the year meets the Property Tax Fairness Credit income test if total income was less than $102,500, a higher ceiling than any filer under 65 faces and far higher than the $63,750 single-filer limit.1 The credit is refundable, so Maine pays it out even if you owe no state income tax. This guide walks through who qualifies, how the credit works, the form to use, and two other Maine programs seniors should know about.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Maine Senior Property Tax Relief at a Glance
• Who Qualifies for the Property Tax Fairness Credit
• How the Credit Is Calculated
• Renters Qualify Too
• Schedule PTFC and How to File
• The Credit Is Refundable
• How to Apply
• Other Maine Property Tax Relief for Seniors
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Next Steps

Maine Senior Property Tax Relief at a Glance

Maine Senior Property Tax Relief: Who Qualifies for the Property Tax Fairness Credit

Age changes two things at once here, and this is the part Maine seniors most often get wrong: turning 65 raises your maximum credit and raises the income limit you have to clear.1

To qualify, you must:

1. Have been a Maine resident during any part of the tax year, and have owned or rented a Maine home during any part of the year that you lived in as your principal residence.1
2. Have total income below your limit for 2025. If you (or your spouse, filing jointly) were at least 65 during the year, that limit is less than $102,500 (the schedule also carries a $100,000 side note, explained below). If you were under 65, it is less than $63,750 for a single filer; less than $82,500 for head of household, rising to $101,250 if you claim more than one qualifying child or dependent; and less than $82,500 married filing jointly, rising to $101,250 if you claim one or more.1
3. Have paid enough in property tax or rent to clear the housing-cost test. Property tax on your Maine principal residence must be greater than 4% of your total income, or rent on it greater than 26.67% of your total income.1
4. Not be filing married filing separately. That status cannot claim the Property Tax Fairness Credit at all.1

To get the larger $2,000 maximum, only one spouse on a joint return has to have been at least 65 during the tax year.1

One wrinkle in the 2025 schedule. The eligibility sentence on the instructions page says less than $102,500 for a filer 65 or older, but a side note beside the income table on the same page tells those filers to "use the amount of $100,000." The schedule's own lines agree with $102,500: the maximum benefit base at 65 or older is $4,100, which is 4% of $102,500. We cannot tell you which figure Maine Revenue Services applies between $100,000 and $102,500. If your total income is in that band, call Maine Revenue Services before you file.1

Homeownership is not required. Renters who paid rent on a Maine principal residence can qualify too; the schedule counts 15% of their rent, after certain subtractions, in place of property tax.1

If you were a part-year Maine resident, count only the property tax paid for your Maine home during the part of the year you were a Maine resident.1

Income for this program is "total income" as the schedule defines it, and it is broader than the income many retirees have in mind. If you file federal Form 1040 or 1040-SR, you start from federal total income and add Social Security and railroad retirement benefits to the extent they are not already included, along with interest not already included and loss add-backs. Social Security counts at the gross amount, before Medicare is taken out, and it includes disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income.1 The line-by-line definition is in the Schedule PTFC/STFC instructions.

How the Credit Is Calculated

Maine's Property Tax Fairness Credit is your benefit base minus 4% of your total income, and it cannot be more than the maximum for your age.1 If your benefit base is not more than 4% of your total income, you do not qualify.1

Your benefit base is the smaller of two amounts. The first is the property tax you paid on your home in 2025 plus 15% of the rent you paid, after subtracting any part of the rent that covers heat, utilities, furniture or similar items. The second is a maximum benefit base: $4,100 if you or your spouse were at least 65, or $2,550, $3,300 or $4,050 for younger filers depending on filing status and the number of qualifying children and dependents.1

The property tax that counts is what you actually paid during 2025 on your house and house lot up to 10 acres, not the amount assessed. Interest, special assessments, tax on other property, tax on any part of the home used exclusively for business or as a separate dwelling, and tax paid by others do not count. If the home is jointly owned, count only the tax you paid.1

A veteran rated 100% permanently and totally disabled by the VA is allowed a second amount equal to the first, so the ceiling becomes $2,000, or $4,000 at 65 or older. It applies if you or your spouse (on a joint return) hold that rating, and a copy of your VA Rating Decision Letter or VA Benefit Summary Letter goes in with the return.1 That doubled figure is a ceiling, not an amount you receive: the schedule allows only the smaller of the doubled amount and your 2025 property tax paid plus 15% of your rent net of heat, utilities, furniture or similar items. You cannot get back more than that.1

Renters Qualify Too

One of the most important features of Maine's Property Tax Fairness Credit is that it covers renters.1

For renters, the 2025 schedule counts 15% of your rent in place of property tax. First you subtract any part of the rent that pays for heat, utilities, furniture or similar items; if you do not know that amount, the schedule has you subtract 15% of the rent. Then you count 15% of what is left.1 You do not need to know your landlord's actual property-tax bill. The 26.67% rent test is the schedule's summary figure; the lines of the schedule do the math on your rent net of those items. These are 2025 figures, so use the current year's instructions when you file.

To qualify as a renter, you must have rented a Maine home as your principal residence and paid rent during the tax year. The rent that counts is the total you paid for that residence during 2025. Mortgage payments and room and board payments are not rent, and rent paid by a government program is not included.1 If a housing program pays part of your rent, check the current Schedule PTFC/STFC instructions or ask Maine Revenue Services how to report your share.

The renter credit is not a separate program with a different form. One return, one schedule, whether you owned or rented.

Schedule PTFC and How to File

The Property Tax Fairness Credit is filed on Schedule PTFC/STFC as part of your Maine income-tax return (Form 1040ME).1 The credit is authorized under 36 M.R.S. § 5219-KK.

PTFC stands for Property Tax Fairness Credit, and STFC for Sales Tax Fairness Credit, a separate credit of up to $280 that shares the form and has its own, much lower income ceilings (see the warning above).1 Each credit sits in its own eligibility block on the schedule; you may qualify for one, both, or neither.

The schedule and its instructions are available from Maine Revenue Services. Most Maine-capable tax software includes the schedule and handles the calculation automatically once you input your property-tax or rent amounts.

What documentation you need:

• For homeowners: your annual property-tax bills for 2025, showing total property taxes paid on your Maine primary residence.
• For renters: your lease or rental receipts, showing total rent paid during 2025 on your Maine primary residence.
• Total income documentation: Social Security award letter, pension statements, Form W-2 if you had wages, investment income statements.

The Credit Is Refundable

Refundable means that if the credit exceeds your Maine income-tax liability, you receive the difference as a payment from Maine Revenue Services.1

This matters for seniors whose income is low enough that they owe little or no Maine income tax. The refundable nature of the Property Tax Fairness Credit means they still receive whatever credit the schedule works out to, up to the $2,000 ceiling, as a direct payment.1

You still have to file a Maine income-tax return and Schedule PTFC/STFC to claim the credit. It does not come automatically. Seniors who do not normally file because their income is below the filing threshold can still file for the sole purpose of claiming this credit.

How to Apply

If you have questions about the calculation or eligibility, Maine Revenue Services has a taxpayer assistance line. Contact information is on maine.gov/revenue.

Other Maine Property Tax Relief for Seniors

The Property Tax Fairness Credit is not the only program. Two others can lower or defer what you owe.

Homestead Exemption. Maine reduces the value of a permanent resident's primary home by up to $25,000 for property-tax purposes. The reduction on your bill is adjusted by the local certified ratio (at a ratio of 80%, the exemption is $20,000), and it cannot exceed the total value of your homestead.1 You must be a permanent resident of Maine, have owned a home in Maine for the 12 months before applying, and file the application with the municipality where the property is located on or before April 1. A form filed after April 1 applies to the next year's assessment, and once approved, the exemption stays in effect as long as your ownership and residency do not change.1 It is not senior-specific, but every qualifying senior homeowner should claim it. Because it lowers your assessed value, it also lowers the property-tax figure you carry into the Property Tax Fairness Credit calculation.

State Property Tax Deferral Program. This is a loan secured by a state lien on your home, not a discount or an exemption. While you participate, the State pays the property taxes on your homestead each year, and the taxes paid, plus interest and costs, build up as a balance that you, or your estate or heirs, must repay.2

To qualify, you must be 65 or older (or unable to work due to a disability), with income under $80,000 in the previous calendar year and liquid assets under $100,000. Where an application includes multiple owners, only one owner has to meet the age-or-disability test, the combined income of all owners must still be under $80,000 (that ceiling does not rise for a couple), and the combined liquid assets must be under $150,000.2 You must own the home in fee simple, and it must already be receiving the Homestead Exemption. Maine Revenue Services says a home deeded to an irrevocable trust, or held only as a life estate, does not qualify.2

A sale is not the only thing that ends the deferral. It also ends if you withdraw, die, transfer ownership, or stop using the home as your primary residence (unless you are away for health reasons), and the balance then has to be paid within 12 months. Heirs who inherit, move in and apply within 12 months of the death can ask for an extension of up to six years, with interest still accruing. If the balance is not repaid, the State's lien can foreclose and the State takes title to the home.2

File the application between January 1 and April 1 with the assessor of the municipality where the home is located, or with the Maine Revenue Services Property Tax Division if the home is in the unorganized territory. Once approved, you do not reapply each year unless you withdraw or are disqualified.2 Property tax the State pays on your behalf under the deferral program still counts as property tax paid for the Property Tax Fairness Credit.1

Note on the "senior freeze." Maine's earlier Property Tax Stabilization for Senior Citizens program (36 M.R.S. chapter 908-B) let a qualifying owner 65 or older hold the property tax billed on a homestead at the amount billed the preceding year.1 That chapter now says it applies only to the property tax year beginning April 1, 2023, so it provides no stabilization for any later property tax year.1 If you hear about a Maine senior tax freeze, that is the program being described, and it does not reach current tax years. The Property Tax Fairness Credit, Homestead Exemption, and Property Tax Deferral Program are the programs to look at now.

Property taxes are one part of a larger picture when thinking about affording care. Our guide to how to pay for senior care covers Medicaid, VA benefits, and other options alongside home equity.

Next Steps

• Confirm your income is under your limit for 2025: less than $102,500 if you were 65 or older, or your lower filing-status limit if under 65. Between $100,000 and $102,500 at 65 or older, confirm with Maine Revenue Services first.1
• Gather your property-tax bills or rent receipts for 2025, whichever applies, and check the housing-cost test: property tax above 4% of total income, or rent above 26.67%.1
• Download Schedule PTFC/STFC from Maine Revenue Services.
• File Schedule PTFC/STFC with your Form 1040ME by Maine's income-tax deadline.
• If you owe no state tax, file anyway. The credit is refundable, and you receive the amount as a payment.
• Ask your municipal assessor about the Homestead Exemption and the Deferral Program if you own your home. Both applications are due by April 1, and the deferral is a loan that has to be repaid with interest.2

If you are thinking about selling your home or using home equity to fund care, our guides on selling or renting your home for care and reverse mortgages for senior care walk through those options.

Learn More

Find personalized guidance on Maine senior property tax relief at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.