Maine

State Home Page 

Maine State Government

Governor's Home Page

Angus King Jr.

Governor King's web site includes a description of his legislative initiatives, the text of his State of the State Address (delivered January 28, 1997), plus hypertext links to various State Agency Rules.

As part of his State of the State address, Governor King proposed to double the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 37 to 74 cents per pack. He also proposed to raise the state's personal income tax exemption to match the federal level,and to eliminate certain classes of individual from the tax rolls (e.g., young people, part-time workers, the working poor).

Maine Revenue Services

Brian H. Mahany, Executive Director
Maine revenue Services
State Office Building
Augusta Maine 04333
Telephone (207) 287-2076
FAX (207) 287-4028

Note: Effective January 1, 1998, the Main Bureau of Taxation is now known as the Maine Revenue Services.

Telephone Numbers: The Bureau of Taxation has established the following telephone numbers:

The Maine Revenue Services web site includes answers to frequently asked questions about the state's individual income tax and withholding income tax, an on-line version of the Maine State Tax Rules, and PDF versions of the Bureau's tax publication, Tax Alert, plus Current News.

Publications: Publications that are available from the Bureau's web site include Sales Tax Instructional Bulletins and Instructional Pamphlets for Individual Income Tax

Tax forms: Tax forms are not currently available from the Bureau's web site. However, the Bureau has provided an Electronic Request Form that visitors can use to request a single copy of a tax form, instruction, schedule or a tax booklet.

Taxpayers may also request tax forms by calling (207) 624-7894, or by faxing a request to (207) 621-3517.

Municipal tax rates: 1996 Maine Municipal Tax Rates are available from the Maine Revenue Services web site.

Legislation

The Maine State Legislature web site includes limited information concerning legislation for the 1997 legislative session. Visitors should check the weekly legislative report cumulative bulletin and the Senate/House Legislative Records.

Note: The Legislature is expected to provide a list of Bills Enacted Into Law within the near future.

Visitors should also check the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis web site.

Copies of Bills: To obtain a copy of a bill, call the Document Room at (207) 287-1408, or submit a written request to:

State House
Station 2
Augusta, ME 04333

Legislative proposals: As part of the 1997 legislative session, the Bureau of Taxation has proposed nine pieces of legislation. The conformity bill would bring Maine tax law into conformity with the Internal Revenue Code as of December 31, 1996, including the changes affecting small business in the recently passed federal Small Business Jobs Protection Act of 1996. The technical corrections bill will not be completed until near the end of the session so that the Bureau can include technical changes that may be discovered in the next few months.

There is a proposal to modernize the fuel tax. This bill would shift the tax collection point for all fuel taxes to "the rack," the wholesaler from the retailer. This will reduce the number of fuel taxpayers and collections points. The federal government and several other states already use the wholesale delivery as the taxable transaction.

A sales tax proposal simplifies the trade-in credit mechanism by combining several equipment categories into a larger "special mobile equipment" category. Any type of equipment from this category could be traded in for any other type of equipment from the category to receive a trade-in credit. Trade-in credits in general are allowed for like-kind items. With the change making several additional items part of the special mobile equipment category, many businesses will appreciate the increased flexibility in this area.

In addition to the Bureau's tax proposals, there are now a total of 250 proposed tax bills. There are also tax changes in the Governor's Budget Bill.

Legislative documents: The Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library includes the legislative histories of many legislative documents (LD's). For additional information, contact the Library at (207) 287-1600 and ask for the Reference Desk.

The Reference Library also contains bill summaries of all legislation proposed for the 117th Legislature, Second Regular Session (1996) and from 1985 forward in the Library, except taxation bills

Judicial Information

The Maine Judicial Branch web site includes Supreme Court opinions.within the near future, the web site is expected to be expanded to include new opinions from the Maine Law Court.

Statutes

The text of the Maine Constitution is available from the Legislature's web site.

The text of the Maine Tax Law is available courtesy of the Maine Revenue Services.