Maine Payroll Instructions

Maine has state income tax withholding, using a 'step' table that is similar to the federal withholding tax tables. The formulas changed in 2022, and in 27 of the past 33 years.

In 2016, the calculation method changed completely. Maine dropped the former exemption system, and now uses an adjustment to the exemption amount, for relatively high-income employees. It is a deduction for most people, but gradually dropped to a negative number in 2016. That was probably a calculation error, because it was corrected in 2017 so it only drops to zero.

NOTE-- In 2006 we changed the Maine calculation formulas from annual basis to weekly, since the state withholding instruction booklet started to use weekly rates. Then in 2007, the state changed their calculations back to annual, so we changed back also. In 2014 they dropped the annual figures entirely, so we had to go back to weekly again. However, in 2016, they went back to annual again. Who knows what the wacky folks in the Maine tax department will do to amuse us in future years...

TurtleSoft provides free annual updates for US federal and Maine tax withholding rates.

Maine State Withholding Instructions

To enter withholding information for an employee in your Goldenseal company file, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Payroll tab on the left, and choose Employees.
  2. Locate the employee's record.
  3. Click the Payroll Setup button.
  4. Enter the employee's marital status into the Marital Status field (see note below).
  5. Enter the number of federal dependents into the Federal Exemptions field.
  6. Enter the number of Maine dependents into the State Exemptions field.
  7. Enter a Maine Tax Package into the Tax Package field, based on the employee’s W4 form. Choose Old W4 for pre-2020 forms. Choose New W4 Step2- if they did not check the box in step 2 of the new form. Choose Step2+ if they did check it. HINT: If you don't see Maine packages in the list, you'll need to import 2022 tax info first.
  8. Click OK.

Maine State Unemployment Tax Instructions

In 2023, Maine SUTA (state unemployment insurance tax) is based on the first $12,000 of wages for each employee (no change since at least 2006). The tax rate depends on your company's past employment history (it ranges from .78% to 7.19%).

To enter your state SUTA tax rate into Goldenseal payroll accounting software, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Payroll Setup from the Costs menu, and choose Tax Items.
  2. You'll see a list of Tax Items. Open the Maine SUTA item. HINT: If you don't see Maine SUTA in the list, you'll need to import your state's payroll info first.
  3. Enter your percentage rate into the field to the right of Calculation method.
  4. If the cutoff amount has changed, enter it into the dollar field to the right of First Adjustment.

Maine Marital Status

Enter one of the following values for each employee, based on their marital and filing status:

NOTE-- There used to be separate tax tables for married employees with two incomes, but they now use the same rate as single-income couples. We still keep the tables separate just in case Maine decides to go back to the old system.

State Tax Contacts

Website

Official State Lawn Ornament

Coastal regions: stack of lobster traps.
Inland: stack of firewood.
Portland: stack of craft beer empties.