An Act To Eliminate Maine's Estate Tax
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0423
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: WOODBURY, PILON, CHASE, LANGLEY, AYOTTE, BURNS, FOSSEL, KNIGHT, STRANG BURGESS, VALENTINO
Amends: 20-A MRSA §11479, 36 MRSA §135, 36 MRSA §144, 36 MRSA §5122

Legislative Document 
No. 423 
S.P. 127 
In Senate, February 10, 2011 
An Act To Eliminate Maine's Estate Tax 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator WOODBURY of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative PILON of Saco, Representative CHASE of Wells and 
Senator: LANGLEY of Hancock, Representatives: AYOTTE of Caswell, BURNS of Alfred, 
FOSSEL of Alna, KNIGHT of Livermore Falls, STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland, 
VALENTINO of Saco. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §11479, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 732, §4, is amended to 
read: 
§11479.  Tax exemption 
The assets of the program fund, all program earnings and any income from operations 
are exempt from all taxation by the State or any of its political subdivisions.  A deposit to 
any account, transfer of that account to a successor participant, designation of a successor 
beneficiary of that account, credit of program earnings to that account or distribution 
from that account used for the purpose of paying higher education expenses of the 
designated beneficiary of that account pursuant to this chapter does not subject that 
participant, the estate of that participant or any beneficiary to any state income or estate 
tax liability.  In the event of cancellation or termination of a participation agreement and 
distribution of funds to a participant, the increase in value over the amount deposited in 
the program fund by that participant may be taxable to that participant in the year 
distributed. 
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §135, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §7, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Taxpayers.  Persons subject to tax under this Title shall maintain such records as 
the State Tax Assessor determines necessary for the reasonable administration of this 
Title.  Records pertaining to taxes imposed by chapters chapter 371 and 575 and by Part 8 
must be retained as long as is required by applicable federal law and regulation.  Records 
pertaining to the special fuel tax user returns filed pursuant to section 3209, subsection 2 
and the International Fuel Tax Agreement pursuant to section 3209, subsection 1-B must 
be retained for 4 years.  Records pertaining to all other taxes imposed by this Title must 
be retained for a period of at least 6 years.  The records must be kept in such a manner as 
to ensure their security and accessibility for inspection by the assessor or any designated 
agent engaged in the administration of this Title.  
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §144, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 668, §10, is 
amended to read: 
A.  Subsection 1 does not apply in the case of sales and use taxes imposed by Part 3, 
estate taxes imposed by chapter 575, income taxes imposed by Part 8 and any other 
tax imposed by this Title for which a specific statutory refund provision exists. 
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA c. 575, as amended, is repealed. 
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶Y, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. CCC, 
§3, is repealed. 
Sec. 6.  Application.  This Act applies to the estates of decedents dying after 
December 31, 2011. 
SUMMARY 
This bill repeals Maine's estate tax.