Code of Maine Rules › 18 - DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES › 674 - Maine Board of Tax Appeals › Chapter 100 - MAINE BOARD OF TAX APPEALS PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE › Part 2 - PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE APPEALS OFFICE › Section 674-100-2-203 - Evidence

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1.
Formal Rules of Evidence; Privilege;
				  Admissibility
The Appeals Officer need not observe the rules of evidence
					 observed by the Maine courts, but shall observe the rules of privilege and the
					 protection of work product recognized under Maine law. The Appeals Officer
					 shall admit evidence if it is the kind of evidence upon which reasonable
					 persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. The Appeals
					 Officer may exclude evidence which is irrelevant or unduly repetitious.
2.
Testimony
Evidence may be given orally at the Appeals Conference or,
					 if no conference was requested, by an unsworn statement or sworn affidavit. If
					 an Appeals Conference was requested such statements and affidavits must be
					 submitted in advance of the Appeals Conference in accordance with section 201
					 of this chapter. If evidence is offered through a sworn affidavit, the
					 submitting party shall make the affiant available for cross-examination unless
					 the opposing party waives the opportunity to cross-examine the affiant. Such
					 cross-examination may be conducted with the affiant present in person or via
					 telephone during the Appeals Conference. If the affiant is not made available
					 for cross-examination as requested, the affidavit may be excluded from evidence
					 by the Appeals Officer. In an appeal in which no conference was requested, the
					 Appeals Officer may, upon the request of a party and for good cause shown,
					 allow cross-examination of an affiant. Such cross-examination may be conducted
					 via telephone and shall be limited to questions concerning the information
					 contained in the affidavit. At the conclusion of any cross-examination, the
					 party that submitted the affidavit will also be given an opportunity to
					 question the affiant.
3.
Weight of evidence; Credibility
In issuing a recommended decision, the Appeals Officer
					 shall determine the weight to be given to the evidence submitted and the
					 credibility of witness statements, although, as provided by 36 M.R.S.
					 §151-D(10)(I), and as set forth in section 304 of this chapter, the Board
					 is not bound by the Appeals Officer's determinations.
4.
Agreement on facts
When the parties agree on a fact or facts, the Appeals
					 Officer may make a finding of fact on the basis of that agreement. Signed
					 statements or oral statements made by parties during Board proceedings,
					 including those made at a case management conference conducted via telephone,
					 are sufficient to show agreement.
5.
Official notice of facts
The Appeals Officer may take official notice of a fact upon
					 the Appeals Officer's own motion or at the request of a party. Official notice
					 may be taken of any fact of which judicial notice could be taken, and, in
					 addition, of any general or technical matter within the specialized experience
					 or knowledge of the Appeals Officer and of any non-confidential public records.
					 The Appeals Officer will notify the parties of any material of which he or she
					 intends to take official notice and shall afford the parties an opportunity to
					 contest the substance or materiality of the material to be noticed.
6.
Burden of proof
The Taxpayer has the burden of proving that it is more
					 likely than not that the Bureau erred in applying or interpreting the relevant
					 law.
7.
Nature of the
				  Board's evidentiary process
All proceedings before the Board, including those related
					 to obtaining evidence, are designed to be informal, efficient, inexpensive, and
					 to not require professional legal assistance. To this end, the production of
					 documents and other evidence by the parties is governed by the primarily
					 voluntary process set forth in section 201 of this chapter. Except in
					 extraordinary circumstances, an Appeals Officer will only consider evidence
					 that is submitted pursuant to that process, in response to a request from the
					 Appeals Officer for additional information, or in response to a subpoena issued
					 by the Appeals Officer.