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An Act To Streamline the Liquor Licensing Reporting Procedure
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §1364, as amended by PL 1997, c. 373, §119, is further amended to read:
§ 1364.Invoices and reports
 
1. Furnish invoices.   All certificate of approval holders shall promptly file with the bureau a copy of every invoice sent to wholesale licensees and the original copy of the Maine purchase order. The invoice must include the licensee's name and the purchase number.
 
2. File monthly reports.   All certificate of approval holders shall furnish a monthly report on or before the 10th15th day of each calendar month in the form prescribed by the bureau.
 
3. Certification that excise tax paid.  NoA certificate of approval holder may not ship or cause to be transported into the State any malt liquor or wine until the bureau has certified that:
 
A. The excise tax has been paid; or
 
B. The Maine wholesale licensee, to whom shipment is to be made, has filed a bond to guarantee payment of the excise tax as provided in section 1405.
 
4. Reports of low-alcohol spirits products.   Each certificate of approval holder that manufactures low-alcohol spirits products shall submit to the bureau, on or before the 10th15th day of each calendar month, a form specifying the number of gallons of low-alcohol spirits product sold to wholesale licensees in the State with a copy of each invoice relating to each such sale.
Sec. 2. 28-A MRSA §1405, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 45, Pt. A, §4, is amended to read:
 
A. The wholesale licensee shall pay the excise tax and premium by the 10th15th day of the calendar month following the month in which shipment occurs.
Sec. 3.  28-A MRSA §1651, sub-§3-A  is enacted to read:
 
3-A.  In-state distillers.     The alcohol bureau shall establish a procedure to allow a distiller that is licensed as an in-state manufacturer to pay to the alcohol bureau the difference between the retail price of the manufacturer's product and the price that the state warehouse pays the manufacturer for the product rather than requiring the manufacturer to deliver the product to the warehouse and purchase it back for retail sale.
Sec. 4. 28-A MRSA §1652, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 623, §17, is amended to read:
 
2-A. Payment due.   On the 10th15th day of each month, every brewery and winery shall pay the excise taxes and premium due on malt liquor and wine whichthat that brewery or winery removed from areas required to be bonded by the Federal Government.
 
SUMMARY
This bill simplifies the process for reporting and payment of taxes on malt liquor and wine by requiring reports and payments for liquor excise taxes to be made at the same time as sales tax and permits a distiller that is an in-state manufacturer with a retail license to pay the alcohol bureau based upon the difference between the retail price of the manufacturer's product and the price that the alcohol bureau pays the manufacturer for the product rather than requiring the manufacturer to deliver the product to the state warehouse and purchase it back for retail sale.