An Act To Provide Municipalities Additional Sales Tax Revenue from Lodging Sales
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0609
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: TERRY, CARNEY, COOPER, MATLACK, TIPPING, CHIPMAN
Amends: 36 MRSA §1812, 36 MRSA §1819, 36 MRSA §1861, 36 MRSA §1951-B

Legislative Document
No. 609
H.P. 437
House of Representatives, February 5, 2019
An Act To Provide Municipalities Additional Sales Tax Revenue 
from Lodging Sales
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TERRY of Gorham.
Cosponsored by Representatives: CARNEY of Cape Elizabeth, COOPER of Yarmouth, 
MATLACK of St. George, McCREIGHT of Harpswell, TIPPING of Orono, Senator: 
CHIPMAN of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §1812, sub-§1-A, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 211, Pt. B, §4 and 
affected by §9, is amended to read:
1-A.  Computation.  Every retailer shall add the sales tax imposed by section 
sections 1811 and 1819 to the sale price on all sales of tangible personal property and 
taxable services that are subject to tax under this Part. The tax when so added is a debt of 
the purchaser to the retailer until it is paid and is recoverable at law by the retailer from 
the purchaser in the same manner as the sale price. When the sale price involves a 
fraction of a dollar, the tax computation must be carried to the 3rd decimal place, then 
rounded down to the next whole cent whenever the 3rd decimal place is one, 2, 3 or 4 and 
rounded up to the next whole cent whenever the 3rd decimal place is 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §1819 is enacted to read:
§1819.  Local sales tax on lodging increment
1.  Local sales tax on lodging increment.  Beginning January 1, 2020, an additional 
tax of 1% is imposed on the value of rental of living quarters in any hotel, rooming house 
or tourist or trailer camp that is sold at retail in this State and that is subject to tax at the 
rate of 9% under section 1811.
2.  Distribution of revenue.  By the 20th day of each month, the assessor shall 
identify and certify the amount of revenue attributable to each municipality and the 
unorganized territory under this section for the previous month and subtract the costs of 
administering this section.  The Treasurer of State shall make monthly payments to 
municipal treasurers of the net amounts certified by the assessor under this subsection for 
each municipality and to the Unorganized Territory Education and Services Fund for the 
net amount attributable to the unorganized territory.
For purposes of this subsection, "costs of administering this section" means the lesser of 
the actual cost to the assessor of administering this section and 2% of the total revenue 
generated under this section.
3.  Effect on revenue sharing and other state aid programs.  Revenue received by 
the State pursuant to subsection 1 may not be considered to be receipts from the taxes 
imposed under this Part for the purpose of transfers to the Local Government Fund under 
Title 30-A, section 5681.  Revenue received pursuant to subsection 1 may not be used to 
reduce or eliminate any funding otherwise due a county or municipality under any 
provision of law providing aid to the county or municipality, including, but not limited to, 
aid for schools, roads, public assistance or jails.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §1861, as amended by PL 1995, c. 640, §6, is further amended 
to read:
§1861.  Imposition
A tax is imposed, at the respective rate rates provided in section sections 1811 and 
1819, on the storage, use or other consumption in this State of tangible personal property 
or a service, the sale of which would be subject to tax under section 1764 or 1811.  Every 
person so storing, using or otherwise consuming is liable for the tax until the person has 
paid the tax or has taken a receipt from the seller, as duly authorized by the assessor, 
showing that the seller has collected the sales or use tax, in which case the seller is liable 
for it.  Retailers registered under section 1754-B or 1756 shall collect the tax and make 
remittance to the assessor.  The amount of the tax payable by the purchaser is that 
provided in the case of sales taxes by section 1812.  When tangible personal property 
purchased for resale is withdrawn from inventory by the retailer for the retailer's own use, 
use tax liability accrues at the date of withdrawal.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §1951-B, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 245, §1 and 
affected by §2, is amended to read:
3.  Collection of tax by remote seller.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 
contrary, a person selling tangible personal property, products transferred electronically 
or services for delivery into this State is subject to the provisions of this Part and shall 
collect and remit the sales tax imposed pursuant to section sections 1811 and 1819 in the 
same manner as a retailer that has a physical presence in this State if:
A.  The person's gross revenue from delivery of tangible personal property, products 
transferred electronically or services that are taxable by this State into this State in the 
previous calendar year or current calendar year exceeds $100,000; or
B.  The person sold tangible personal property, products transferred electronically or 
services that are taxable by this State for delivery into this State in at least 200 
separate transactions in the previous calendar year or the current calendar year.
SUMMARY
This bill provides an incremental sales tax of 1% for those sales currently subject to 
the 9% sales tax on lodging.  The incremental revenue, after reduction for administrative 
costs, is returned to the municipality or unorganized territory to which the revenue is 
attributable.  The amount received may not be used to reduce any other state aid or 
revenue sharing to municipalities or the unorganized territory.