| | | A. Any person who fails to pay, on or before the due date, | | any amount shown as tax on any return required under this | | Title or on any estimated assessment made against the person | | is liable for a penalty of 1% of the unpaid tax for each | | month or fraction of a month during which the failure | | continues, to a maximum in the aggregate of 25% of the | | unpaid tax. |
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| | | Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §187-B, sub-§7, as amended by PL 1997, c. 668, §16, is | | further amended to read: |
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| | | 7. Reasonable cause. For reasonable cause, the State Tax | | Assessor shall waive or abate any penalty imposed by subsection | 1; subsection 2, paragraphs A and B; and subsections 4 and; | and subsection | | limited to, the following: |
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| | | A. The failure to file or pay resulted directly from | | erroneous information provided by the Bureau of Revenue | | Services; |
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| | | B. The failure to file or pay resulted directly from the | | death or serious illness of the taxpayer or a member of the | | taxpayer's immediate family; |
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| | | C. The failure to file or pay resulted directly from a | | natural disaster; |
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| | | D. A return that was due monthly was filed and paid less | | than one month late and all of the taxpayer's returns and | | payments during the preceding 12 months were timely; |
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| | | E. A return that was due other than monthly was filed and | | paid less than one month late and all of the taxpayer's | | returns and payments during the preceding 3 years were | | timely; |
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| | | F. The taxpayer has supplied substantial authority | | justifying the failure to file or pay; or |
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| | | G. The amount subject to a penalty imposed by subsections | | 1, 2 and 4-A; and subsection 5-A is de minimis when | | considered in relation to the amount otherwise properly | | paid, the reason for the failure to file or pay and the | | taxpayer's compliance history. |
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| | | The burden of establishing grounds for waiver or abatement is on | | the taxpayer. |
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