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An Act Regarding Levies Placed on Accounts at Financial Institutions for Unpaid State Income Taxes
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §176-A, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 380, Pt. J, §12, is further amended to read:
 
A.  Except as otherwise provided in paragraph B, any person who is in possession of, or obligated with respect to, property or rights to property subject to levy upon which a levy has been made shall, upon demand of the assessor, surrender the property or rights or discharge the obligation to the assessor within 21 days after receipt of the notice of levy, except that part of the property or rights that is, at the time of the demand, subject to an attachment or execution under judicial process. It is a defense to the liability imposed by this subsection that the person who fails to comply with the terms of a notice of levy or that person's bailor has a valid claim against the delinquent taxpayer that accrued prior to receipt of the notice of levy or a valid security interest or lien upon the property of the taxpayer that was perfected prior to receipt of the notice of levy; but this defense is available only to the extent of that claim, security interest or lien.
 
Any financial institution chartered under state or federal law, including, but not limited to, trust companies, savings banks, savings and loan associations, national banks and credit unions, shall surrender to the assessor any deposits, including any interest in the financial institution that would otherwise be required to be surrendered under this subsection only after 21 days after receipt of the notice of levy, but not later than 30 days after receipt of the notice of levy. Except as provided in subsection 5, paragraph D, with respect to a levy on salary or wages, any person in possession of, or obligated with respect to, property subject to a continuing levy against intangible personal property, which property is first possessed or which obligation first arises subsequent to receipt of a notice of levy by that person, shall, upon demand of the assessor, surrender the property or rights, or discharge the obligation to the assessor within 30 days after the property is first possessed or the obligation first arises.
 
Any financial institution chartered under state or federal law, including, but not limited to, trust companies, savings banks, savings and loan associations, national banks and credit unions, shall surrender to the assessor any deposits subject to levy for the payment of taxes pursuant to Part 8 in the following order:
 
(1) Deposits in accounts held solely by the delinquent taxpayer;
 
(2) Deposits in accounts held jointly by the delinquent taxpayer and the taxpayer’s spouse; and
 
(3) Deposits in accounts held jointly by the delinquent taxpayer and a 3rd party.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires a financial institution, in a case in which a delinquent taxpayer's accounts have been levied for unpaid state income taxes, to satisfy the levy first from accounts held solely by the delinquent taxpayer, next from accounts held jointly by the delinquent taxpayer and the delinquent taxpayer's spouse and last from accounts held jointly by the delinquent taxpayer and a 3rd party.