Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §2873, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 714, Pt. CC, §3 and affected by §8, is amended to read:

1. Monthly returns required; payment of estimated tax liability. On or before the 15th day of each month, each person subject to the tax imposed by this chapter shall submit to the assessor a return on a form prescribed and furnished by the assessor. Each return must be accompanied by a payment of an amount equal to 1/12 of the person's estimated tax liability for the entire current state fiscal year or facility fiscal year or, in the case of a facility taxed on the basis of a partial facility fiscal year after June 30, 2003, an amount equal to a fraction of the estimated liability in which the denominator is the number of months remaining in the facility fiscal year and the numerator is one. A person may estimate its tax liability for the current state fiscal year or facility fiscal year by applying the tax rates provided by section 2872 to the most recent state fiscal year or facility fiscal year for which relevant taxable revenues have been finally determined and are no longer open to audit adjustment or correction a Medicaid cost report has been finally settled and is no longer open to audit adjustment or correction, provided that as long as the fiscal year in question began no earlier than 3 years prior to the beginning of the current fiscal year; in the event that the information necessary to prepare this estimate is not available, an estimate may be prepared on the basis of the reconciliation return most recently submitted or, if the first such return has not yet been filed, then on the basis of the revenues formally reported by the facility in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Regardless of the method used for preparing the estimate, the estimate may include adjustments to reflect changes in the number of licensed or certified beds or extraordinary changes in payment rates. Once a taxpayer has made its first monthly payment for a state fiscal year or facility fiscal year pursuant to this subsection, the monthly amount must remain fixed throughout the fiscal year unless the assessor authorizes a change. If the person's estimated annual tax liability as reported and paid pursuant to this subsection does not equal the tax imposed on that person by section 2872, any adjustments necessary to reconcile the estimated tax with the correct tax amount must be made pursuant to subsection 2.

Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §2873, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 714, Pt. CC, §3 and affected by §8, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: