Maine

Maine Exempts Poor Families from the Income Tax

 

Maine’s 1999 income tax threshold — the income level at which families begin paying income tax:	Ranking among 42 states with income taxes
For two-parent families of four: $20,200.	14th highest
For single-parent families of three: $16,600.	15th highest
Maine’s 1999 income tax on working-poor and near-poor families:
No tax on families with incomes at the poverty line ($17,028 for family of four, $13,290 for family of three).
No tax on families of three or four with full-time minimum-wage earnings ($10,712).
For families of four with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($21,285): $61.	13th lowest
For families of three with incomes at 125% of the poverty line ($16,613): $41.	15th lowest
Maine has recently exempted families with below-poverty earnings from the income tax. In 1991, a family of four owed no tax until its income reached 1 percent above the poverty line. Maine’s threshold was below the poverty line in the mid-1990s but is now 19 percent above the poverty line.