An Act To Base the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax on Ninety Percent of the Maker's List Price
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §1482, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2001, c. 671, §32, is further amended to read:
(1) On new registrations of automobiles, trucks and truck tractors, the excise tax payment must be made prior to registration and is for a one-year period from the date of registration.
(2) Vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan are subject to an excise tax determined on a monthly proration basis if their registration period is less than 12 months.
(3) For commercial vehicles manufactured in model year 1996 and after, the amount of excise tax due for trucks or truck tractors registered for more than 26,000 pounds and for Class A special mobile equipment, as defined in Title 29-A, section 101, subsection 70, is based on the purchase price in the original year of title rather than on the list price. Verification of purchase price for the application of excise tax is determined by the initial bill of sale or the state sales tax document provided at point of purchase. The initial bill of sale is that issued by the dealer to the initial purchaser of a new vehicle.
For motor vehicles being registered pursuant to Title 29-A, section 405, subsection 1, paragraph C, the excise tax must be prorated for the number of months in the registration. For purposes of this paragraph, "adjusted maker's list price" means 90% of the maker's list price, as described in subsection 4.
Sec. 2. Application. This Act applies to motor vehicles registered on or after October 1, 2011.
SUMMARY
Current law requires the excise tax paid on motor vehicles to be based on the maker's list price, regardless of the amount actually paid for the motor vehicle.
This bill instead requires the excise tax to be based on 90% of the maker's list price for the motor vehicle, regardless of the amount actually paid for the motor vehicle, and it changes the mill rate structure for the succeeding years.