S.P. 720 - L.D. 1963
An Act to Require the Bureau of Revenue Services to Report on the Incidence of Tax Burdens to Business Sectors of the State's Economy and to Income Classes of Citizens
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA c. 11 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 11
REVENUE IMPACT
§200. Bureau of Revenue Services report on revenue incidence
1. Impact of taxes on individuals. The bureau shall submit a report containing the information required by this subsection to the Legislature by July 1, 1999 and by October 1st of each even-numbered year thereafter.
A. Part 1 of the report must describe the overall incidence of all state, local and county taxes. The report must present information on the distribution of the tax burden:
(1) For the overall income distribution, using a measure of system-wide incidence that appropriately measures equality and inequality;
(2) By income classes, including, at a minimum, deciles of the income distribution; and
(3) By other appropriate taxpayer characteristics.
B. Part 2 of the report must describe the impact of the tax system on business and industrial sectors. The report must:
(1) Describe the impact of taxes on major sectors of the business and industrial economy relative to other sectors; and
(2) Describe the relative impact of each tax on business and industrial sectors.
C. When determining the overall incidence of taxes under this subsection, the bureau shall reduce the amount of taxes collected by the amount of taxes that are returned directly to taxpayers through tax relief programs.
2. Legislation analysis. At the request of the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters, the bureau shall prepare an incidence impact analysis of any legislation or proposal to change the tax laws that increases, decreases or redistributes taxes by more than $20,000,000. To the extent data is available on the changes in the distribution of the tax burden that are effected by that legislation or proposal, the analysis must report on the incidence effects that would result if the legislation were enacted. The report may present information, using system-wide measures, by income classes, taxpayer characteristics or other relevant categories. The report may include analyses
of the effect of the legislation proposal on representative taxpayers. The analysis must include a statement of the incidence assumptions that were used in computing the tax burdens.
Effective July 9, 1998, unless otherwise indicated.
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