An Act To Make Minor Substantive Changes to the Tax Laws
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §5681, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2005, c. 2, Pt. G, §1 and affected by §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §182, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 583, §8, is amended to read:
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §187-B, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §187-B, sub-§4-B is enacted to read:
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §187-B, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2005, c. 332, §5, is further amended to read:
The burden of establishing grounds for waiver or abatement is on the taxpayer.
Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §193, as repealed and replaced by PL 2005, c. 332, §10 and affected by §30, is amended to read:
§ 193. Returns; declaration covering perjury; submission of returns and funds by electronic means
Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §653, sub-§1, ¶D-1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 622, §4, is further amended to read:
Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §691, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 623, §1, is amended to read:
"Eligible business equipment" does not include:
(1) Office furniture, including, without limitation, tables, chairs, desks, bookcases, filing cabinets and modular office partitions;
(2) Lamps and lighting fixtures used primarily for the purpose of providing general purpose office or worker lighting;
(3) Property owned or used by an excluded person;
(4) Telecommunications personal property subject to the tax imposed by section 457;
(5) Gambling machines or devices, including any device, machine, paraphernalia or equipment that is used or usable in the playing phases of any gambling activity as that term is defined in Title 8, section 1001, subsection 15, whether that activity consists of gambling between persons or gambling by a person involving the playing of a machine. "Gambling machines or devices" includes, without limitation:
(a) Associated equipment as defined in Title 8, section 1001, subsection 2;
(b) Computer equipment used directly and primarily in the operation of a slot machine as defined in Title 8, section 1001, subsection 39;
(c) An electronic video machine as defined in Title 17, section 330, subsection 1-A;
(d) Equipment used in the playing phases of lottery schemes; and
(e) Repair and replacement parts of a gambling machine or device; or
(6) Property located at a retail sales facility and used primarily in a retail sales activity unless the property is owned by a business that operates a retail sales facility in the State exceeding 100,000 square feet of interior customer selling space that is used primarily for retail sales and whose Maine-based operations derive less than 30% of their total annual revenue on a calendar year basis from sales that are made at a retail sales facility located in the State. For purposes of this subparagraph, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Primarily" means more than 50% of the time;
(b) "Retail sales activity" means an activity associated with the selection and purchase of goods or services or the rental of tangible personal property. "Retail sales activity" does not include production as defined in section 1752, subsection 9-B; and
(c) "Retail sales facility" means a structure used to serve customers who are physically present at the facility for the purpose of selecting and purchasing goods or services at retail or for renting tangible personal property. "Retail sales facility" does not include a separate structure that is used as a warehouse or call center facility . ; or
(7) Property that is not entitled to an exemption by reason of the additional limitations imposed by subsection 2.
Sec. 9. 36 MRSA §693, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 623, §1, is amended to read:
All notices and requests provided pursuant to this subsection must be made by personal delivery or certified mail and must conspicuously state the consequences of the taxpayer's failure to respond to the notice or request in a timely manner.
If an exemption has already been accepted and the State Tax Assessor subsequently determines that the property is not entitled to exemption, a supplemental assessment must be made within 3 years of the original assessment date with respect to the property in compliance with section 713, without regard to the limitations contained in that section regarding the justification necessary for a supplemental assessment.
Sec. 10. 36 MRSA §1752, sub-§11, ¶A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 218, §14, is further amended to read:
(1) Conditional sales, installment lease sales and any other transfer of tangible personal property when the title is retained as security for the payment of the purchase price and is intended to be transferred later; and
(2) Sale of products for internal human consumption to a person for resale through vending machines when sold to a person more than 50% of whose gross receipts from the retail sale of tangible personal property are derived from sales through vending machines. The tax must be paid by the retailer to the State . ;
(3) A sale in the ordinary course of business by a retailer to a purchaser who is not engaged in selling that kind of tangible personal property or taxable service in the ordinary course of repeated and successive transactions of like character; and
(4) The sale or liquidation of a business or the sale of substantially all of the assets of a business, to the extent that the seller purchased the assets of the business for resale, lease or rental in the ordinary course of business, except when:
(a) The sale is to an affiliated entity and the transferee, or ultimate transferee in a series of transactions among affiliated entities, purchases the assets for resale, lease or rental in the ordinary course of business; or
(b) The sale is to a person that purchases the assets for resale, lease or rental in the ordinary course of business or that purchases the assets for transfer to an affiliate, directly or through a series of transactions among affiliated entities, for resale, lease or rental by the affiliate in the ordinary course of business.
For purposes of this subparagraph, "affiliate" or "affiliated" includes both direct and indirect affiliates.
Sec. 11. 36 MRSA §1760-C, as amended by PL 2005, c. 622, §9, is further amended to read:
§ 1760-C. Exempt activities
The tax exemptions provided by section 1760 to a person based upon its charitable, nonprofit or other public purposes apply only if the property or service purchased is intended to be used by the person primarily in the activity identified by the particular exemption. The tax exemptions provided by section 1760 to a person based upon its charitable, nonprofit or other public purposes do not apply where title is held or taken by the person as security for any financing arrangement. Exemption certificates issued by the State Tax Assessor pursuant to section 1760 must identify the exempt activity and must state that the certificate may be used by the holder only when purchasing property or services intended to be used by the holder primarily in the exempt activity. If the holder of an exemption certificate furnishes that certificate to a person for use in purchasing tangible personal property or taxable services that are physically incorporated in, and become a permanent part of, real property that is not used by the holder of the certificate primarily in the exempt activity, the State Tax Assessor may assess the unpaid tax against the holder of the certificate as provided in section 141. When an otherwise qualifying person is engaged in both exempt and nonexempt activities, an exemption certificate may be issued to the person only if the person has established to the satisfaction of the assessor that the applicant has adequate accounting controls to limit the use of the certificate to exempt purchases.
Sec. 12. 36 MRSA §2521-A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 218, §31, is further amended to read:
§ 2521-A. Returns; payment of tax
Every insurance company, captive insurance company, association, producer or attorney-in-fact of a reciprocal insurer subject to the tax as imposed by this chapter shall on or before the last day of each April, the 25th day of each June and the last day of each October file with the State Tax Assessor on forms prescribed by the State Tax Assessor assessor a return for the quarter ending on the last day of the preceding calendar month, except for the month return due on the 25th day of June, which is for the quarter ending June 30th. These A final return must be filed on or before March 15th, covering the prior calendar year. The 3 quarterly returns may be on an estimated basis, as long as each April and June installment equals at least 35% of the total tax paid for the preceding calendar year or at least 35% of the total tax to be paid for the current calendar year . The remaining installments must equal and each October installment equals 15% of the total tax to be paid for the preceding calendar year or at least 15% of the total tax to be paid for the current calendar year. An authorized company official shall affirm which elective is selected. Such elective can not be changed during the current calendar year. The final return must be filed on or before March 15th covering the prior calendar year.
At the time of filing such the returns, each insurance company, captive insurance company, association , producer or attorney-in-fact of a reciprocal insurer shall pay to the State Tax Assessor assessor the amount of tax shown due.
Insurance companies, captive insurance companies, associations , producers or attorneys-in-fact of a reciprocal insurer with whose annual tax liability under this chapter does not exceeding $500 exceed $1,000 may with approval of the State Tax Assessor file an annual return with payment on or before March 15th covering the prior calendar year.
Sec. 13. 36 MRSA §2551, sub-§19, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 673, Pt. V, §25 and affected by §29, is amended to read:
Sec. 14. 36 MRSA §4641-D, as amended by PL 2003, c. 391, §3, is further amended to read:
§ 4641-D. Declaration of value
Except as otherwise provided in this section, any deed, when offered for recording, and any report of a transfer of a controlling interest must be accompanied by a statement or declaration prepared in duplicate and , signed , subject to the penalties of perjury, by the parties to the transaction or their authorized representatives, declaring the value of the property transferred and indicating the taxpayer identification numbers of the grantor and grantee. The statement or declaration of value with regard to a transfer by deed must include evidence of compliance with section 5250-A and reference to . The declaration of value must identify the appropriate tax map and parcel number of the property transferred unless no a tax map exists does not exist that includes that property, in which event the declaration must indicate that no an appropriate tax map exists does not exist. The exceptions to the foregoing are the following are exempt from these requirements:
If the transfer is declared not subject to exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter, the reason therefor shall for the exemption must be stated on the declaration of value.
The declaration of value must be in a form prescribed by the State Tax Assessor, who shall provide an adequate supply of such forms to each register of deeds in the State. The State Tax Assessor shall prescribe a form for the declaration of value with regard to transfers of controlling interests subject to tax under this chapter. The State Tax Assessor, by rule, may establish grounds and procedures for waiver of the requirement that the taxpayer identification numbers of the grantor and grantee must be shown on the declaration of value. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
The register of deeds shall transmit both copies of the declaration of value to the State Tax Assessor not later than 40 days from the date of recordation of the deed subject to the tax or, in the case of a transfer of a controlling interest subject to tax under this chapter, no later than the 10th day of the month following the month in which the report of the transfer is received by the register of deeds.
The State Tax Assessor shall, on or before the 20th day of each the month following the month of receipt, transmit one copy of each declaration of value to the assessors of the municipality or the chief assessor of a primary assessing area in which the real estate is situated.
Sec. 15. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶V, as amended by PL 2005, c. 519, Pt. CC, §1 and Pt. NNN, §1 and affected by §3, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Sec. 16. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶X, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 12, Pt. P, §4 and affected by §10, is amended to read:
Sec. 17. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶Y is enacted to read:
Sec. 18. 36 MRSA §5219-C, as repealed and replaced by PL 1991, c. 377, §20, is amended to read:
§ 5219-C. Forest management planning income credits
Once every 10 years, an individual is allowed a credit against the tax otherwise due under this Part for the lesser of $200 or the individual's cost for having a forest management and harvest plan developed for a parcel of forest land in this State greater than 10 acres. For purposes of this section, the licensed professional forester may not be in the regular employ of the individual. In no case may this This credit may not reduce the state income tax to less than zero. Those taxpayers An individual claiming this credit must attach a statement from the forester supporting the claim and swear that the credit has not been claimed by them the individual in the previous 10 years. Those taxpayers deducting An individual who deducts the cost of the forester as an expense under the Internal Revenue Code must reduce subtract the expense by the amount of the credit from federal adjusted gross income for purposes of the tax imposed by this Part. This credit may be used in any tax year beginning on or after January 1, 1989.
§5219-C. Investment tax credit
(REPEALED BY PL 1991, c. 377, §20)
§5219-C. Solid waste reduction investment tax credit
(REPEALED BY PL 1991, c. 377, §20)
Sec. 19. 36 MRSA §5251, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. AA, §2 and affected by §6, is further amended to read:
§ 5251. Information statement
Every person who is required to deduct and withhold tax under this Part, or who would have been required so to deduct and withhold tax if an employee had claimed no more than one withholding exemption, shall furnish a written statement as prescribed by the assessor to each such person in respect to the items of income subject to withholding paid by such person to such that person during the calendar year on or before February 15th January 31st of the succeeding year, or, in the case of an employee who is terminated before the close of such the calendar year, within 30 days from the date on which the last payment of wages is made, a written statement as prescribed by the assessor showing of receipt of a written request from the employee if that 30-day period ends before January 31st. The statement must show the amount of wages paid by the employer to the employee , or , in the case of withholding pursuant to sections 5250-B and 5255-B , the total items of income that were subject to withholding, the amount deducted and withheld as tax and such other information as the assessor shall prescribe requires.
Sec. 20. 36 MRSA §5251-A is enacted to read:
§ 5251-A. Fraudulent statement or failure to furnish statement
A person who is required by section 5251 to furnish a statement to a payee and who willfully fails to furnish that statement at the time required by section 5251, in the form and showing the information prescribed by the State Tax Assessor, or who willfully furnishes a false or fraudulent statement commits a civil violation for which a fine of $50 for each such failure must be imposed.
Sec. 21. 36 MRSA §6651, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 623, §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 22. Application. That section of this Act that amends the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 5681, subsection 2, paragraph C applies to fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2007. That section of this Act that enacts Title 36, section 187-B, subsection 1-A applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2007. That section of this Act that amends Title 36, section 653, subsection 1, paragraph D-1 applies to taxes assessed based on the status of property on or after April 1, 2007. That section of this Act that amends Title 36, section 2521-A applies to periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008. That section of this Act that enacts Title 36, section 5122, subsection 1, paragraph Y applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2007. That section of this Act that amends Title 36, section 5219-C applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2007. That section of this Act that amends Title 36, section 5251 applies with respect to items of income paid in calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2007. That section of this Act that enacts Title 36, section 5251-A applies with respect to statements required to be furnished on or after January 1, 2007.