Amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following:
PART A
‘
Sec. A-1. 36 MRSA §1754-B, sub-§2-C, as amended by PL 2005, c. 519, Pt. OOO, §1, is further amended to read:
Sec. A-2. 36 MRSA §4072, as amended by PL 1999, c. 38, §1, is further amended to read:
All property subject to taxes under this chapter, in whatever form of investment it may happen to be, is charged with a lien for all taxes, interest and penalties that are or may become due on that property. The lien does not attach to any property passing by right of survivorship to a surviving joint tenant who was the decedent's spouse on the decedent's date of death. The lien does not attach to any real or personal property after the property has been sold or disposed of for value by the personal representative, trustee or surviving joint tenant. Upon payment of those taxes, interest and penalties due under this chapter, or upon determination that no tax is due, the State Tax Assessor shall upon request execute a discharge of the tax lien for recording in the appropriate registry or registries of deeds.
Any lien that attached to real property prior to September 30, 1989 and after the property was sold or disposed of for value by the personal representative, trustee or surviving joint tenant is released by operation of this section. A lien that attaches under this section is released 10 years after the decedent's date of death.
Sec. A-3. 36 MRSA §4112, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 380, Pt. M, §9, is amended to read:
All property subject to taxes under this chapter, in whatever form of investment it may happen to be, is charged with a lien for all taxes, interest and penalties that are or may become due on that property. The lien does not attach to any property passing by right of survivorship to a surviving joint tenant who was the decedent's spouse on the decedent's date of death. The lien does not attach to any real or personal property after the property has been sold or disposed of for value by the personal representative, trustee or surviving joint tenant. Upon payment of those taxes, interest and penalties due under this chapter or upon determination that no tax is due, the assessor shall upon request execute a discharge of the tax lien for recording in the appropriate registry or registries of deeds.
A lien that attaches under this section is released 10 years after the decedent's date of death.
Sec. A-4. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§1, ¶Y, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. CCC, §3, is further amended to read:
Y. Any amount of allowable deduction claimed for federal purposes in accordance with the election under Section 642(g) of the Code that is also used to determine the taxable estate for purposes of calculating the Maine estate tax under chapter 575 or 577;
Sec. A-5. Application. That section of this Part that amends the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 5122, subsection 1, paragraph Y applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2013.
Sec. A-6. Retroactivity. That section of this Part that amends the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 4072 applies retroactively to estates of decedents with dates of death on or before December 31, 2012. That section of this Part that amends Title 36, section 4112 applies retroactively to estates of decedents with dates of death on or after January 1, 2013.
PART B
Sec. B-1. 36 MRSA §151-D, sub-§10, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 694, §6, is amended to read:
A. If requested by a petitioner in within 20 days of filing a statement of appeal, the appeals office shall hold an appeals conference to receive additional information and to hear arguments regarding the protested assessment or determination. The board shall set a rate of no more than $150 as a processing fee for each petition that proceeds to an appeals conference. These fees must be credited to a special revenue account to be used to defray expenses in carrying out this section. Any balance of these fees in the special revenue account does not lapse but is carried forward as a continuing account to be expended for the same purposes in the following years.
Sec. B-2. 36 MRSA §151-D, sub-§10, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 694, §6, is amended to read:
D. If a petitioner does not include a timely request for an appeals conference in the statement of appeal, the appeals officer shall determine the matter based on written submissions by the petitioner and the division within the bureau making the original determination.
Sec. B-3. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶VV, as amended by PL 2011, c. 644, §6 and repealed by c. 694, §9, is further amended to read:
VV. The disclosure by the assessor to the taxpayer advocate under section 151-C of information related to a petition for reconsideration filed by a taxpayer pursuant to section 151. The taxpayer advocate is prohibited from disclosing information obtained pursuant to this paragraph other than to the particular taxpayer to whom the information pertains; and
Sec. B-4. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶WW, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 644, §7 and c. 694, §10, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
WW. The disclosure of information to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife necessary for the administration of the credit for Maine fishery infrastructure investment under section 5216-D;
Sec. B-5. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶¶XX and YY are enacted to read:
XX. The disclosure of information by the assessor to the board, except that such disclosure is limited to information that is pertinent to an appeal or other action or proceeding before the board; and
YY. The inspection and disclosure of information by the board to the extent necessary to conduct appeals procedures pursuant to this Title and issue a decision on an appeal to the parties. The board may make available to the public redacted decisions that do not disclose the identity of a taxpayer or any information made confidential by state or federal statute.
PART C
Sec. C-1. 36 MRSA §111, sub-§1-C, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 694, §2, is amended to read:
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 4 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §151-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 45, §5, is further amended to read:
Amend the bill by inserting after section 11 the following:
‘Sec. 12. 36 MRSA §2551, sub-§10, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §53, is further amended to read:
Sec. 13. 36 MRSA §2551, sub-§11, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 673, Pt. V, §25 and affected by §29, is amended to read:
Sec. 14. 36 MRSA §2552, sub-§1, ¶G, as amended by PL 2005, c. 386, Pt. S, §4 and affected by §9, is further amended to read:
G. Private nonmedical institution or personal home care services;’
Amend the bill in section 20 in §4303 in the 2nd paragraph in the last line (page 6, line 28 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " under this section" the following: ' from the seller'
Amend the bill in section 25 in §4307 in the first paragraph in the 3rd line (page 7, line 6 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "of" the following: ' unprocessed'
Amend the bill in section 25 in §4307 in the first paragraph in the 4th line (page 7, line 7 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: " shipper" the following: ' that are'
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment adds Parts A and B to the bill and makes the contents of the bill Part C, as well as making further changes to the bill in Part C.
Part A:
1. Amends tax law regarding the issuance and renewal of resale certificates to provide the State Tax Assessor with greater flexibility in allowing the renewal of resale certificates;
2. Amends tax law regarding the imposition of the Maine estate tax lien to exempt real property passing to a surviving joint tenant who is also a surviving spouse of the decedent from the Maine estate tax lien and to provide a 10-year expiration period for Maine estate tax liens; and
3. Amends tax law concerning the income addition modification regarding certain estate tax administration expenses to include the new Maine estate tax law applicable to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2013.
Part B:
1. Gives taxpayers 20 days after filing a statement of appeal with the Maine Board of Tax Appeals in which to request an appeals conference. Unlike the current statutory language, which requires a conference to be requested in the statement of appeal, this gives a taxpayer who does not realize that conferences are available until after filing a statement of appeal the ability to request one within a reasonable amount of time; and
2. Provides in the exemptions provisions of the law regarding the confidentiality of tax records that the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services may disclose to the Maine Board of Tax Appeals only confidential taxpayer information that is pertinent to an appeal before the board and that the board may disclose confidential taxpayer information only to the extent that it is necessary for the resolution of an appeal. The board may also publish its decisions in redacted format to provide guidance regarding Maine tax law to taxpayers and professionals while protecting the identity of the taxpayer involved in the appeal and any confidential tax information.
Part C:
1. Adds to the bill's changes to a definition of "board," referring to the Maine Board of Tax Appeals, a reference to language added in Part B regarding confidential taxpayer information;
2. Changes the bill to take into account recently enacted law; and
3. Changes the bill to clarify that personal home care services are subject to the service provider tax as private nonmedical institution services are, aligning the language with that used in Department of Health and Human Services rules. It makes changes to the wild blueberry tax provisions to clarify which party is responsible for paying the tax and that the tax is levied on the unprocessed weight of the blueberries received by a processor.