An Act to Provide Transparency and Accountability for Corporate Tax Expenditures
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1804
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: BENNETT
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5250-P, 36 MRSA §693, 36 MRSA §6664-A, 36 MRSA §6763, 36 MRSA §6854

Legislative Document
No. 1804
S.P. 729
In Senate, April 25, 2023
An Act to Provide Transparency and Accountability for Corporate 
Tax Expenditures
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §5250-P, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 440, §5, is 
amended to read:
C.  On or before June 1st annually, beginning in 2019, the commissioner shall report 
to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation 
and economic development matters information on qualified Pine Tree Development 
Zone businesses, including, but not limited to:
(1)  The names, locations and business types, including parent company if 
applicable, of qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses for the report 
year;
(2)  The estimated or total aggregate amount of Pine Tree Development Zone 
benefits received by qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses in the 
report year; and
(3)  Aggregate information for each of the most recent 3 report years on:
(a)  Employment Projected and actual employment levels for all Maine 
employees and for qualified Pine Tree Development Zone employees and 
associated salary and wages for both groups of employees;
(b)  Average Projected and actual average annual salary and wages and access 
to health insurance and retirement benefits for all Maine employees and for 
qualified Pine Tree Development Zone employees; and
(c)  Amount of projected and actual investment associated with the qualified 
Pine Tree Development Zone business locations or directly related to the 
qualified business activities.;
(4)  Whether applications are publicly available for review; and
(5)  How to obtain data about the Pine Tree Development Zone program.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §693, as amended by PL 2017, c. 170, Pt. B, §8, is further 
amended to read:
§693.  Forms; reporting
1.  Reporting; taxpayers.  On or before April 1st of each year, a taxpayer claiming an 
exemption under this subchapter shall file a report with the assessor of the taxing 
jurisdiction in which the property would otherwise be subject to taxation on April 1st of 
that year.  The report must identify the property for which exemption is claimed that would 
otherwise be subject to taxation on April 1st of that year and must be made on a form 
prescribed by the State Tax Assessor or substitute form approved by the State Tax Assessor.  
The State Tax Assessor shall furnish copies of the form to each municipality in the State 
and the form must be made available to taxpayers prior to April 1st annually. The assessor 
of the taxing jurisdiction may require the taxpayer to sign the form and make oath to its 
truth.  If the report is not filed by April 1st, the filing deadline is automatically extended to 
May 1st without the need for the taxpayer to request or the assessor to grant that extension.  
Upon written request, before the commitment of taxes, the assessor may grant further 
extensions of time to file the report.  If a taxpayer fails to file the report in a timely manner, 
including any extensions of time, the taxpayer may not obtain an exemption for that 
property under this subchapter for that tax year.  The assessor of the taxing jurisdiction may 
require in writing that a taxpayer answer in writing all reasonable inquiries as to the 
property for which exemption is requested.  A taxpayer has 30 days from receipt of such 
an inquiry to respond.  Upon written request, a taxpayer is entitled to a 30-day extension to 
respond to the inquiry and the assessor may at any time grant additional extensions upon 
written request. The answer to any such inquiry is not binding on the assessor.
All notices and requests provided pursuant to this subsection must be made by personal 
delivery or certified mail and must conspicuously state the consequences of the taxpayer's 
failure to respond to the notice or request in a timely manner.
If an exemption has already been accepted and the State Tax Assessor subsequently 
determines that the property is not entitled to exemption, a supplemental assessment must 
be made within 3 years of the original assessment date with respect to the property in 
compliance with section 713, without regard to the limitations contained in that section 
regarding the justification necessary for a supplemental assessment.
1-A.  Reporting; assessor.  The assessor shall submit an annual report to the joint 
standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation and economic 
development matters and include the following information:
A.  Location and nature of equipment to which the exemption applied;
B.  Whether documentation regarding the exemption is available for public review;
C.  Type of business and parent company of business, if applicable, that claims the 
exemption;
D.  Amounts of exemptions claimed;
E.  Projected and actual amounts of capital investment achieved through the exemption; 
and
F.  How to obtain data about the exemption.
2.  False filing.  An individual who knowingly gives false information for the purpose 
of claiming an exemption under this subchapter commits a Class E crime.
3.  Continuation of eligibility.  A person must annually file the report required by this 
section subsection 1 for all eligible business equipment, even though there may be no 
substantive change in the property from one year to the next.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §6664-A is enacted to read:
§6664-A.  Report
1. Annual report. The State Tax Assessor annually shall report, to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters, information 
including:
A. Location and nature of qualified business property;
B. Whether applications for reimbursements are available for public review;
C. Amounts of reimbursements claimed;
D. Projected and actual amounts of capital investment achieved through the 
reimbursement; and
E. How to obtain data about the reimbursement.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §6763 is enacted to read:
§6763.  Report
1. Annual report. The commissioner annually shall report, to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters, information 
including:
A. Location and nature of applicants approved for the employment tax increment 
financing development program;
B. Whether applications for certificates of approval are available for public review;
C. Amounts of reimbursements claimed;
D. Projected and actual numbers of jobs created as a consequence of the employment 
tax increment financing development program;
E. Projected and actual amounts of wages paid for jobs created as a consequence of the 
employment tax increment financing development program; and
F. How to obtain data about the employment tax increment financing development 
program.
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §6854, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 449, §1, is amended to 
read:
3.  Report to Legislature.  The State Tax Assessor annually shall report, to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters, aggregate 
data on employment levels and qualified investment amounts of a certified applicant for 
each year beginning with expenditures incurred after October 1, 1996.  The report must be 
made during the first regular session of each Legislature beginning with the 120th 
Legislature. information including:
A.  Location and nature of qualified applicants;
B.  Whether applications for certificates of approval are available for public review;
C.  Amounts of credits claimed;
D.  Projected and actual amounts of capital investment achieved through the credit;
E.  Projected and actual numbers of jobs created as a consequence of the credit;
F.  Projected and actual amounts of wages paid for jobs created as a consequence of 
the credit; and
G.  How to obtain data about the credit.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development to 
submit annual reports on Pine Tree Development Zones and the employment tax increment 
financing credit and the State Tax Assessor to submit annual reports on the business 
equipment tax exemption, the shipbuilding facility credit and the business equipment tax 
reimbursement.  The commissioner and the assessor are required to make these reports to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters.