Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§11, ¶F, as corrected by RR 2001, c. 1, §40, is amended by amending subparagraph (44) to read:

(44) Services provided by an owner-operator of a truck or truck tractor while leased to a motor carrier, as defined in 49 Code of Federal Regulations, 390.5 (2000), as long as that employment is not subject to federal unemployment tax. Any tax that might otherwise be due before September 21, 2001, but for the operation of this subparagraph, that was not paid on or before September 21, 2001 may not be collected or enforced in any way by the State Tax Assessor.

Sec. 2. Application. This Part does not require the State Tax Assessor to repay any taxes paid or collected prior to the operation of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, section 1043, subsection 11, paragraph F, subparagraph (44).

SUMMARY

This bill clarifies that unemployment taxes owed prior to the effective date of the provision that exempts from state unemployment compensation law certain owner-operators of trucks or truck tractors leased to a motor carrier may not be collected or otherwise enforced.