An Act To Make Minor Substantive Changes to the Tax Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1813
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: LEMOINE, STANLEY, CLOUGH, LERMAN, SUSLOVIC, TARDY, NASS
Amends: 36 MRSA §177, 36 MRSA §1760, 36 MRSA §430, 36 MRSA §436, 36 MRSA §4384, 36 MRSA §5122

Legislative Document 
No. 1813 
H.P.1335 
House of Representati ves, December 22, 2003 
An Act To Make Minor Substantive Changes to the Tax Laws 
Submitted by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 17,2003. Referred to the Committee on 
Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401. 
1J1~1I1.71/~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative LEMOINE of Old Orchard Beach. 
Cosponsored by Senator STANLEY of Penobscot and 
Representatives: CLOUGH of Scarborough, LERMAN of Augusta, McGOWAN of Pittsfield, 
SUSLOVIC of Portland, TARDY of Newport, Senator: NASS of York. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §177, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1999, c. 790, 
Pt. A, §4l, is further amended to read: 
4. 
Revocation for nonsegregation. 
If any person who is a 
!..!~et;aile~!..! retailer under Part 3 or a fuel supplier, retailer 
L 
distributor or importer subject to Part 
fails to make 
the 
required payments 
on account to the State Tax 
Assessor, 
the 
assessor may revoke any registration certificate that has been 
issued 
to 
that 
person. 
The 
revocation 
is 
reviewable 
in 
accordance with section 151. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§23-C, ,C, as enacted by PL 1999, 
c. 759, §2 and affected by §5, is amended to read: 
C. 
Aircraft; and 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§23-C, ,D, as enacted by PL 1999, 
c. 759, §2 and affected by §5, is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §430S, as amended by PL 1997, c. 511, §14, is 
further amended to read: 
§4305. Certification 
Every processor or shipper of wild blueberries shall obtain 
certification 
from 
the 
State 
Tax 
Assessor 
aRRaally 
before 
processing or 
shipping wild blueberries. 
The 
assessor shall 
provide 
the 
applications 
for 
the 
certification, 
which 
must 
contain 
the 
name 
under 
which 
the 
processor 
or 
shipper 
is 
transacting business 
in 
the 
State, 
the 
place 
or 
places 
of 
business, the names and addresses of the persons constituting a 
firm or partnership and, if a corporation, the corporate name and 
names and addresses of its principal officers and agents in the 
State. 
A processor or shipper may not process or ship wild 
blueberries 
until 
the 
certification 
has 
been 
issued. 
Certification may be suspended or revoked by the assessor for 
failure to pay the tax imposed by section 4303 or for the filing 
of false or fraudulent reports or returns. 
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eHpi~es--e-aoh--yea'£-~R---J.un.e--~Qt;RT 
A certificate issued by the 
assessor pursuant to this section is not a license wi thin the 
meaning of that term in the Maine Administrative Procedure Act. 
Sec. S. 36 MRSA §436S, as amended by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. 
SSSS, §l and affected by §4, is further amended to read: 
§4365. Rate of tax 
Page l-LR2504(1) 
A tax is imposed on all cigarettes imported into this State 
or held in this State by any person for sale at the rate of 47 
mills for each cigarette. 
Payment of the tax is evidenced by the 
affixing of stamps to the packages containing the cigarettes. 
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pe£6aa-~~-~~-a-~i€eR6e4-~~~~~~-~F-eeale£7-~~~~*-ffiay 
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Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §4384 is enacted to read: 
§4384. 
Reporting and payment of tax 
A person who is not a licensed distributor or dealer who 
imports, receives or otherwise acguires unstamped cigarettes for 
use or consumption in the State in a guantity greater than 2 
cartons in anyone month from a person other than a licensed 
distributor or dealer shall file, on or before the last day of 
the month following each month in which unstamped cigarettes were 
acguired, a return on a form prescribed by the State Tax Assessor 
together with payment of the tax imposed by this chapter at the 
rate provided in section 4365. 
The return must report the number 
of unstarnped cigarettes imported, received or otherwise acguired 
during the previous calendar month and additional information the 
assessor may reguire. 
Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §5122. sub-§2. ~B, as amended by PL 2003, c. 
390, §31, is further amended to read: 
B. 
An 
amount 
equal 
to 
the 
taxpayer's 
federal 
work 
opportuni ty credit as determined under the Code, Section 51 
or empowerment zone employment credit as determined under 
the ±aw6-eE-~be-gai~ee-S~a~e6 Code, Section 1396; 
Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§2. ~L, as repealed and replaced by 
PL 2001, c. 358, Pt. CC, §l, is amended to read: 
L. 
For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 
2000 and before January 1, 
2004, 
an amount equal to the 
total premiums spent for qualified long-term care insurance 
contracts as defined in the Code, Section 7702B(b), as long 
as the amount subtracted is reduced by the long-term care 
premiums 
claimed 
as 
an 
itemized 
deduction 
pursuant 
to 
section 5125. 
For income tax years beginning on or after 
January 1, 2004, an amount egual to the total premiums spent 
for gualified long-term care insurance contracts as defined 
in the 
Code, 
Section 
7702B(b), 
as 
long 
as 
the 
amount 
subtracted is reduced by any amount claimed as a deduction 
for 
federal 
income 
tax purposes 
in accordance with the 
Code, 
Section 162(1) 
and by the long-term care premiums 
claimed as an itemized deduction pursuant to section 5125; 
Sec. 9. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§2, ff, as reallocated by RR 2003, 
c. 1, §37, is amended to read: 
T. 
For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 
2002 and before January 1, 
2004, 
an amount equal to the 
total premiums spent for long-term care insurance policies 
certified under Title 24-A, section 5075-A as long as the 
amount subtracted is reduced by the long-term care premiums 
claimed as an itemized deduction pursuant to section 5125. 
For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2004, 
an amount equal to the total premiums spent for qualified 
long-term care insurance contracts certified under Title 
24-A, section 5075-A, as long as the amount subtracted is 
reduced by any amount claimed as a deduction for federal 
income tax purposes in accordance with the Code, 
Section 
162(1) 
and by the long-term care premiums claimed as an 
itemized deduction pursuant to section 5125. 
Sec. 10. 36 MRS A §5200-A, sub-§2, ~C, as amended by PL 2003, 
c. 390, §42, is further amended to read: 
C. 
An 
amount 
equal 
to 
the 
taxpayer's 
federal 
work 
opportunity credit as determined under the Code, Section 51 
or empowerment zone employment credit as determined under 
the ~aws-e~-ERe-YBiEea-SEaEes Code, Section 1396; 
Sec. 11. Application. 
Those sections of this Act that amend 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 5122, subsection 2, 
paragraphs a, Land T and section 5200-A, subsection 2, paragraph 
C apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2004. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing 
taxation. 
The bill adds retailers of low-energy fuel to the categories 
of persons who are subject to revocation of their registration 
certif icate if they fail to comply with a notice to segregate 
trust fund taxes. 
The 
change was inadvertently omitted from 
legislation enacted in the 119th Legislature that established 
this new category of licensee under the Special Fuel Tax Act. 
The bill repeals a sales tax exemption for truck bodies and 
trailers manufactured in the State. 
The bill eliminates 
the 
shippers of wild blueberries 
requirement 
for 
to file an annual 
processors 
and 
application for 
renewal of certification. 
The bill establishes a requirement for persons who purchase 
more 
than 
cartons 
per 
month 
of 
unstamped 
cigarettes 
for 
personal use to report and pay the cigarette tax directly to the 
Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
Revenue Services and clarifies that persons who fail to do so are 
subject to the same assessment provisions as those liable for 
other taxes. 
The bill adds the federal empowerment zone employment credit 
to those similar federal credits that are deductible from state 
income 
for 
purposes of 
calculating Maine 
taxable 
income 
for 
individuals and corporations and adds citations to the specific 
provisions 
of 
the 
Internal 
Revenue 
Code 
that 
authorize 
the 
credits. 
The changes apply to tax years beginning on or after 
January 1, 2004. 
The bill clarifies that 
premiums 
paid 
by 
self-employed 
taxpayers for long-term care insurance may be used to reduce 
Maine taxable income only to the extent that those premiums have 
not already been deducted in arriving at federal adjusted gross 
income. 
The change applies to tax years beginning on or after 
January 1, 2004.