An Act To Require Room Remarketers and Operators of Transient Rental Platforms To Be Registered for the Collection and Reporting of Sales Taxes
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1721
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: HILLIARD, MASON, BICKFORD, POULIOT, STANLEY, TUELL
Amends: 36 MRSA §1752, 36 MRSA §1754-B

Legislative Document
No. 1721
H.P. 1201
House of Representatives, December 22, 2017
An Act To Require Room Remarketers and Operators of Transient 
Rental Platforms To Be Registered for the Collection and Reporting 
of Sales Taxes
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 19, 2017.  Referred to the Committee on 
Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative HILLIARD of Belgrade.
Cosponsored by Senator MASON of Androscoggin and
Representatives: BICKFORD of Auburn, POULIOT of Augusta, STANLEY of Medway, 
TUELL of East Machias.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§11-B is enacted to read:
11-B.  Room remarketer.  "Room remarketer" means a person who reserves, 
arranges for, offers, furnishes or collects or receives consideration for the rental of living 
quarters in this State, whether directly or indirectly, pursuant to a written or other 
agreement with the owner, manager or operator of a hotel, rooming house or tourist or 
trailer camp.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§14, ¶A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 627, §43, is 
further amended to read:
A.  "Sale price" includes:
(1)  Any consideration for services that are a part of a retail sale; and
(2)  All receipts, cash, credits and property of any kind or nature and any amount 
for which credit is allowed by the seller to the purchaser, without any deduction 
on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of the materials used, labor or 
service cost, interest paid, losses or any other expenses.; and
(3)  All consideration received for the rental of living quarters in this State, 
including any service charge or other charge or amount required to be paid as a 
condition for occupancy, valued in money, whether received in money or 
otherwise and whether received by the owner, occupant, manager or operator of 
the living quarters, by a room remarketer, by a person that operates a transient 
rental platform or by another person on behalf of any of those persons.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §1752, sub-§20-C is enacted to read:
20-C.  Transient rental platform.  "Transient rental platform" means an electronic 
or other system, including an Internet-based system, that allows the owner or occupant of 
living quarters in this State to offer the living quarters for rental and that provides a 
mechanism by which a person may arrange for the rental of the living quarters in 
exchange for payment to either the owner or occupant, to the operator of the system or to 
another person on behalf of the owner, occupant or operator.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §1754-B, sub-§1, ¶F, as amended by PL 2005, c. 218, §19, is 
further amended to read:
F.  Every person that manages or operates in the regular course of business or on a 
casual basis a hotel, rooming house or tourist or trailer camp in this State or that 
collects or receives rents from on behalf of a hotel, rooming house or tourist or trailer 
camp in this State;
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §1754-B, sub-§1, ¶¶F-1 and F-2 are enacted to read:
F-1.  Every person that operates a transient rental platform and reserves, arranges for, 
offers, furnishes or collects or receives consideration for the rental of living quarters 
in this State;
F-2.  Every room remarketer; 
Sec. 6.  Application.  Those sections of this Act that enact the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 36, section 1752, subsections 11-B and 20-C and Title 36, section 1754-B, 
subsection 1, paragraphs F-1 and F-2 and that amend Title 36, section 1752, subsection 
14, paragraph A apply to sales occurring on or after October 1, 2018.
SUMMARY
This bill expands the provision for sellers required to register to collect and report 
sales taxes to include online real property rental platforms.  The bill adds definitions for 
"room remarketer" and "transient rental platform," and the definition for "sale price" is 
amended to include as consideration receipts by room remarketers and transient rental 
platform operators.  The changes apply to sales occurring on or after October 1, 2018.