An Act To Exempt from the Sales Tax Meals Provided at Retirement Facilities
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1335
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: PERRY, CROCKETT, BLISS, HOBBINS, FLEMINGS, PRESCOTT, TARDY
Amends: 36 MRSA §1752, 36 MRSA §1760, 36 MRSA §1766

Legislative Document 
No. 1335 
S.P.481 
In Senate, March 31, 2009 
An Act To Exempt from the Sales Tax Meals Provided at 
Retirement Facilities 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator PERRY of Penobscot. 
Cosponsored by Representative CROCKETT of Augusta and 
9rf)CJ~ 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senators: BLISS of Cumberland, HOBBINS of York, Representatives: FLEMINGS of Bar 
Harbor, PRESCOTT of Topsham, TARDY of Newport. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §1752, sub-§l1-A is enacted to read: 
ll-A. Retirement facility. 
"Retirement facility" means a facility that includes 
residential dwelling units where, on a continuous basis, at least 80% of the residents of 
the facility are persons 62 years of age or older. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§6, ~, as amended by PL 2007, c. 529, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
E. Served by colleges to employees of the college when the meals are purchased 
with debit cards issued by the colleges; aHd 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§6, GffF, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 529, §3, is 
amended to read: 
F. Served by youth camps licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services 
and defined in rules adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services as a 
combination of program and facilities established for the primary purpose of 
providing an outdoor group living experience with social, recreational, spiritual and 
educational objectives for children and operated and used for 5 or more consecutive 
days during one or more seasons of the year, including day camps, residential camps 
and trip and travel camps.,.; and 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§6, G[G is enacted to read: 
G. Served by a retirement facility to its residents when the cost of the meals is 
included in a comprehensive fee that includes the right to reside in a residential 
dwelling unit and meals or other services, whether that fee is charged annually, 
monthly, weekly or daily. 
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §1766 is enacted to read: 
§1766. Credit for meals served in retirement facility 
A retirement facility that was audited by the bureau between January 1, 2007 and 
October 1, 2009 and that agreed in settlement of the audit to pay sales tax or interest or 
penalties on sales tax for meals that are exempt from the sales and use tax pursuant to 
section 1760, subsection 6, paragraph G may apply for a credit of sales tax, interest or 
penalties actually paid. Upon verification by the assessor, the credit under this section 
must be granted against any sales and use tax owed by that retirement facility over a 10-
year period in equal annual amounts. 
Sec. 6. Effective date. This Act takes effect October 1, 2009. 
SUMMARY 
This bill exempts from the sales tax meals provided to residents of full-service 
retirement facilities. 
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This bill also allows a retirement facility to claim a credit against future sales tax 
payments for sales tax, including any interest or penalties on that sales tax, paid by that 
facility on meals that will now be exempt from the sales and use tax pursuant to this bill. 
The credit must be provided in equal installments over a 1 O-year period.