An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding the Determination of Domicile Based on the Geographic Location of an Individual's Bank
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1130
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: COURTNEY, RICHARDSON, PLOWMAN, DOW, HARMON, HASKELL, KNIGHT, VOLK
Amends: 36 MRSA §5102

Legislative Document 
No. 1130 
S.P. 339 
In Senate, March 16, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding the Determination of 
Domicile Based on the Geographic Location of an Individual's Bank 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
JOSEPH G. CARLETON, JR. 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator COURTNEY of York. 
Cosponsored by Representative RICHARDSON of Warren and 
Senator: PLOWMAN of Penobscot, Representatives: DOW of Waldoboro, HARMON of 
Palermo, HASKELL of Portland, KNIGHT of Livermore Falls, VOLK of Scarborough. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §5102, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2005, c. 519, Pt. G, §1 and 
affected by §2, is further amended to read: 
5.  Resident individual.  "Resident individual" means an individual: 
A.  Who is domiciled in Maine, unless: 
(1)  The individual does not maintain a permanent place of abode in this State, 
maintains a permanent place of abode elsewhere and spends in the aggregate not 
more than 30 days of the taxable year in this State; or 
(2)  Within any period of 548 consecutive days, the individual: 
(a)  Is present in a foreign country or countries for at least 450 days; 
(b)  Is not present in this State for more than 90 days; 
(c)  Does not maintain a permanent place of abode in this State at which a 
minor child of the individual or the individual's spouse is present for more 
than 90 days, unless the individual and the individual's spouse are legally 
separated; and 
(d)  During the nonresident portion of the taxable year with which, or within 
which, such period of 548 consecutive days begins and the nonresident 
portion of the taxable year with which, or within which, such period ends, is 
present in this State for a number of days that does not exceed an amount that 
bears the same ratio to 90 as the number of days contained in such portion of 
the taxable year bears to 548; or 
B.  Who is not domiciled in Maine, but maintains a permanent place of abode in this 
State and spends in the aggregate more than 183 days of the taxable year in this State, 
unless the individual is in the Armed Forces of the United States. 
The geographic location of a political organization or political candidate that receives one 
or more contributions from the individual is not in and of itself determinative on the 
question of whether the individual is domiciled in Maine.  The geographic location of a 
professional advisor retained by an individual or the geographic location of a bank with 
an active bank account or bank loan of an individual may not be used to determine 
whether or not an individual is domiciled in Maine.  For purposes of this subsection, 
"professional advisor" includes, but is not limited to, a person that renders medical, 
financial, legal, accounting, insurance, fiduciary or investment services.  Charitable 
contributions may not be used to determine whether or not an individual is domiciled in 
Maine. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the definition of "resident individual" for the laws regarding income 
taxes to include that the geographic location of a bank with an active bank account or 
bank loan of the individual may not be used to determine if the individual is considered to 
be domiciled in Maine.