Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §1752, sub-§17, as amended by PL 1997, c. 557, Pt. B, §2 and affected by §14 and Pt. G, §1, is further amended to read:

17. Tangible personal property. "Tangible personal property" means personal property that may be seen, weighed, measured, felt, touched or in any other manner perceived by the senses, including radio and television broadcast signals, but does not include rights and credits, insurance policies, bills of exchange, stocks and bonds and similar evidences of indebtedness or ownership. "Tangible personal property" includes electricity. "Tangible personal property" includes any computer software that is not a custom computer software program.

SUMMARY

Under current law, a manufacturer is entitled to a sales tax exemption on machinery that is used to produce tangible personal property. "Tangible personal property," as defined by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 1752, subsection 17 is defined as property that may be perceived by the senses. This bill clarifies that the signals produced by the broadcast media are perceived by the senses, and therefore the machinery used to produce the radio and television broadcasts are entitled to the existing manufacturers' sales tax exemption that is currently utilized by the print media.