Maine tax payment plan requests to MRS
Maine Revenue Services (MRS) provides payment plans once you ask its compliance staff by email. An acceptable plan keeps your account out of enforced collection.
- Interest for 2026
- Each year, 9% applies.
- Interest in 2027
- Each year, 8% applies.
- Late payment penalty
- Every month, 1% is added.
- Late payment cap
- 25%
In Maine, a payment plan starts with an email
Neither an online application nor a dollar limit or set number of months is provided in Maine. According to the MRS FAQ on individual income tax, you should pay what you can using the notice you received. The address for the MRS compliance unit appears in that FAQ and that is where you email to ask for a payment plan.
MRS points out that there is a real benefit. An acceptable plan lets you save a lot on penalties and keeps enforced collection activity away from your account. Penalties and interest keep adding to any unpaid balance until you pay it off in full.
Forms MRS might request from you
MRS can ask for a list showing what you owe and what you own and it uses that list to judge what you can pay. Its MRS compliance page links to the forms it uses:
- What assets and debts a person has are listed on the Personal Financial Statement
- Assets and debts of a business are covered by the Business Financial Statement.
- The Voluntary Payroll Deduction Agreement allows your employer to pull overdue state tax payments from your wages
How much does Maine add while you pay?
Interest applies to unpaid tax and it compounds every month. For 2026 the rate is 9% a year and for 2027 it is 8% a year, on the MRS interest rates page.
On top of that, two penalties apply. A late payment costs 1% per month and no more than 25% of the tax can be charged as penalty. A late filing means you pay whichever is higher, $25 or 10% of the tax due. Once MRS demands a return and you have not filed it, the amount charged becomes $25 or 25%. Filing late and paying late bring both penalties, but filing on time still helps when you cannot pay.
What enforced collection means in Maine
When a tax is due and no further appeal is open, Maine law gives MRS these tools:
- Under 36 M.R.S. section 175-A, what you leave unpaid becomes a tax lien, a legal claim and it reaches every piece of property you own, including property you acquire later. Notice of that lien can be recorded by MRS at the Secretary of State or in a county registry of deeds.
- As section 176-A allows, a levy lets MRS take property and sell it. A levy on wages stays in place until the debt is paid off.
- As section 175 describes, a professional license, a trade license or a business license from the state may have its renewal blocked after two written notices. You have 30 days to respond to each notice, then a further 30-day warning follows.
Settling for less than the full amount owed
A compromise offer may be accepted by MRS, but no one holds a right to it. Any offer must rest on doubt: whether the tax is owed, whether it can be collected or both. Your returns usually have to be filed first. For an offer that rests on collectibility, you need a personal financial statement, complete and accurate.
A Maine plan compared with an IRS plan
MRS and the IRS share no agreement. A Maine plan covers state tax and nothing else. The IRS runs its own installment agreement for federal tax. Owing both means you have two separate plans, two monthly payments and interest that each plan carries.
States close by
Do you owe both MRS and the IRS?
Do you owe money to Maine Revenue Services and to the IRS? A licensed tax pro can help you plan both payments on a free call, based on what you really can afford.
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