2210ME: Underpayment of Estimated Tax Penalty Calculation (2025)
Maine · Maine Revenue Services · Used for tax years 2025
Maine Form 2210ME helps individuals, estates, and trusts determine whether they owe a penalty for underpaying or paying estimated tax late for 2025. It calculates underpayments for each installment and any resulting penalty to report on Form 1040ME or Form 1041ME.
Who files this form
Individuals, estates, and trusts use Form 2210ME to check whether they owe a penalty for paying estimated tax late or paying too little.
In general, you may owe a penalty if both apply:
- Your 2025 tax liability, minus allowable credits and withholding, is $1,000 or more.
- Your 2024 tax liability before credits, withholding, or other tax payments was $1,000 or more.
You do not need to file this form if your 2025 tax liability after allowable credits and Maine withholding is less than $1,000, or your 2024 tax liability was less than $1,000.
If the penalty on line 16 is zero, do not file the form unless you used the annualized income installment method. If you used that method, you must file it even when the penalty is zero.
When it's due
For tax year 2025, the form lists these estimated tax payment due dates:
- April 15, 2025
- June 16, 2025
- September 15, 2025
- January 15, 2026
The 2025 form also gives these penalty exceptions:
- Do not calculate a penalty for the fourth required payment if you file the tax return and pay the tax in full by January 31.
- Farmers and people who fish commercially owe no penalty if they file their income tax return and pay the tax in full on or before March 1 of the following year.
What you'll need
Have these forms and payment details available:
- Your 2025 Form 1040ME or Form 1041ME, including tax, refundable credits, and Maine income tax withheld.
- Your 2024 Form 1040ME or Form 1041ME to calculate the prior-year tax amount.
- Estimated tax payment amounts and payment dates.
- Any credit carried forward from the previous tax year.
- Your name as shown on your return and your SSN or EIN.
If you use the annualized income installment method, complete the Annualized Installment Worksheet for each payment due date. The instructions require documentation of the actual liability for each installment when individuals do not use four equal installments.
How to file
- Complete Part I to check whether you paid enough estimated tax on time.
- For quarters with an underpayment on line 11a, use Part II to calculate the penalty.
- Enter the total penalty from line 16 on Form 1040ME, line 32, or Form 1041ME, line 10b.
- If you use the annualized income installment method, check line 17 and the corresponding box on Form 1040ME, line 32, or Form 1041ME, line 10b.
- Enclose Form 2210ME with your Form 1040ME or Form 1041ME when required.
The supplied text does not give a mailing address or e-file instructions. Forms are available at maine.gov/revenue/tax-return-forms.
Common mistakes
- Filing when the form says to stop. Lines 4 and 5 tell you not to complete or file the form if the applicable result is less than $1,000.
- Leaving out the form because the penalty is zero when you annualized income. The form must still be filed if you used the annualized income installment method.
- Using the printed penalty-rate table for a fiscal year. Fiscal-year filers may not use that table.
- Ignoring part of a month. Line 13 counts a partial month as a whole month.
- Entering punctuation in your identification number. Do not enter slashes or hyphens in the SSN or EIN field.
Questions people ask
What if my income varied during the year?
You may use the actual liability method, for example, if you own a seasonal business or received most of your income in one payment. This may lower or eliminate quarterly estimated payments. Complete the Annualized Installment Worksheet for each payment due date and check the required boxes on the form and your return.
What penalty rates apply?
The rate for calendar year 2025 is 0.8333% per month or part of a month, compounded monthly. For calendar year 2026, it is 0.75% per month or part of a month, compounded monthly. Calendar-year filers use the table to select the appropriate rate for line 14.
Can I base estimated payments on last year's tax after a large one-time gain?
Maine does not allow that election when an unusual event occurs. An unusual event means taxable income for an installment period exceeds taxable income for the same period in the prior year by at least $500,000. You must pay 90% of the tax on the unusual event income for that installment period and adjust line 9 for the affected 2025 period.
Is the percentage different for farmers and people who fish commercially?
Yes. Line 2 uses 66 2/3% of the tax on line 1 for farmers and people who fish commercially, instead of 90%.