An Act To Remove Taxes on Equipment Used for Business
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §691, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 571, Pt. II, §1 and affected by §5, is further 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 1831, subsection 4;
(d) Equipment used in the playing phases of lottery schemes; and
(e) Repair and replacement parts of a gambling machine or device;
(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 or by a business that operates a retail sales facility in the State that does not exceed 20,000 square feet of interior customer selling space that is used primarily for retail sales. 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;
(7) Property that is not entitled to an exemption by reason of the additional limitations imposed by subsection 2; or
(8) Personal property that would otherwise be entitled to exemption under this subchapter used primarily to support a telecommunications antenna used by a telecommunications business subject to the tax imposed by section 457.
summary
This bill extends the business equipment property tax exemption to office furniture, including tables, chairs, desks, bookcases, filing cabinets and modular office partitions, and to otherwise eligible property located at a retail sales facility with interior customer selling space that is smaller than 20,000 square feet.