§1953. Tax a debt; recovery; preference

The taxes, interest and penalties imposed by chapters 7 and 211 to 225, from the time the same shall be they are due, shall be are a personal debt of the retailer or user to the State of Maine, recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action in the name of the State of Maine, and shall have preference in any distribution of the assets of the taxpayer, whether in bankruptcy, insolvency or otherwise. The proceeds of any judgment obtained shall be paid to the Tax Assessor.

Sec. 27. 36 MRSA §1964 is repealed.

Sec. 28. 36 MRSA §2011, as amended by PL 1987, c. 772, §25, is further amended to read:

§2011. Overpayment; refunds

If the State Tax Assessor determines, upon written application by a taxpayer or during the course of an audit, that any tax under this Part has been paid more than once or has been erroneously or illegally collected or computed, he the assessor shall certify to the State Controller the amount collected paid in excess of that legally due, from whom it was collected or by whom paid, and that.__That amount shall must be credited by the State Tax Assessor assessor on any taxes then due from the taxpayer and the balance refunded to the taxpayer or his the taxpayer's successor, administrators, executors or assigns in interest, but no such credit or refund may be allowed unless within 3 years from the date of overpayment either a written petition therefor, stating the grounds upon which the refund or credit is claimed, is filed with the State Tax Assessor assessor or the overpayment is discovered on audit within 3 years of the date of overpayment. Interest, at the rate determined pursuant to section 186, shall must be paid on any balance refunded pursuant to this chapter from the date the return listing the overpayment was filed, or the date the payment was made, whichever is later, on any balance refunded pursuant to this chapter, except that no interest may be paid with respect to the refunds provided by section 2013 and, in cases of excessive or erroneous collections specified in section 1814, interest shall must be paid in accordance with section 1814, subsection 3. At the election of the State Tax Assessor assessor, unless the taxpayer specifically requests a cash refund, the refund may be credited to the taxpayer's sales and use tax account, but, in the case of a credit, no further interest may accrue from the date of