An Act To Amend the Tax Laws To Strengthen Charitable Institutions, Encourage Home Ownership and Manage Medical Expenses
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1519
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: POULIOT, THIBODEAU, ESPLING, FREDETTE, GIDEON, SKOLFIELD, WINSOR, HILL
Amends: 36 MRSA §5122, 36 MRSA §5125, 36 MRSA §5403

Legislative Document 
No. 1519 
H.P. 1044 
House of Representatives, January 6, 2016 
An Act To Amend the Tax Laws To Strengthen Charitable 
Institutions, Encourage Home Ownership and Manage Medical 
Expenses 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative POULIOT of Augusta. 
Cosponsored by President THIBODEAU of Waldo and 
Representatives: ESPLING of New Gloucester, FREDETTE of Newport, GIDEON of 
Freeport, McCABE of Skowhegan, SKOLFIELD of Weld, WINSOR of Norway, Senators: 
HILL of York, McCORMICK of Kennebec. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶JJ, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. DD, 
§8, is amended to read: 
JJ.  For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, an amount equal to the 
taxpayer base multiplied by the following fraction: 
(1)  For single individuals and married persons filing separate returns, the 
numerator is the taxpayer's Maine adjusted gross income less $70,000, except 
that the numerator may not be less than zero, and the denominator is $75,000.  In 
no case may the fraction contained in this subparagraph produce a result that is 
more than one.  The $70,000 amount used to calculate the numerator in this 
subparagraph must be adjusted for inflation in accordance with section 5403, 
subsection 3 4; 
(2)  For individuals filing as heads of households, the numerator is the taxpayer's 
Maine adjusted gross income less $105,000, except that the numerator may not 
be less than zero, and the denominator is $112,500.  In no case may the fraction 
contained in this subparagraph produce a result that is more than one.  The 
$105,000 amount used to calculate the numerator in this subparagraph must be 
adjusted for inflation in accordance with section 5403, subsection 3 4; or 
(3)  For individuals filing married joint returns or surviving spouses, the 
numerator is the taxpayer's Maine adjusted gross income less $140,000, except 
that the numerator may not be less than zero, and the denominator is $150,000.  
In no case may the fraction contained in this subparagraph produce a result that is 
more than one.  The $140,000 amount used to calculate the numerator in this 
subparagraph must be adjusted for inflation in accordance with section 5403, 
subsection 3 4. 
For purposes of this paragraph, "taxpayer base" means either the taxpayer’s 
applicable standard deduction amount for the taxable year determined under section 
5124-B or, if itemized deductions are claimed, the taxpayer’s itemized deductions 
claimed for the taxable year determined under section 5125. 
This paragraph does not apply to a resident individual who has claimed itemized 
deductions from federal adjusted gross income in determining the individual's federal 
taxable income for the taxable year determined under section 5125. 
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §5125, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. TT, §10 
and affected by §20, is further amended to read: 
2.  Spouses.  Spouses, both of whom are required to file returns under this Part, are 
allowed to claim itemized deductions from Maine adjusted gross income only if both do 
so.  Their total itemized deductions from federal adjusted gross income, as modified by 
subsection 3, may be taken by either spouse or divided between them, as they may elect, 
if their federal income tax is determined on a joint return but their tax under this Part is 
determined on separate returns.  The total itemized deductions from Maine adjusted gross 
income claimed on a return may not exceed the limitation amount in subsection 4. 
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §5125, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2013, c. 595, Pt. T, §1 and 
affected by §2, is repealed. 
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §5403, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. DD, §33, is 
repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows a resident individual who itemizes deductions in determining federal 
adjusted gross income to claim those deductions to the full extent allowed under federal 
law in determining Maine adjusted gross income.