Chapter 539
H.P. 1651 - L.D. 2289
PART OO
Sec. OO-1. 22 MRSA §1714-A, sub-§7,  as amended by PL 2003, c. 673, Pt. YYY, §1, is further amended to read:
7. Other collection actions.
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In addition to the other remedies provided in this section, the department may seek collection of any debt established under subsection 2 pursuant to Title 14, chapter 502 , Title 36, chapter 7 and Title 36, section 5276-A.A business entity, including a sole proprietorship, is considered out of business for the purposes of the department's recovering indebtedness if, after reasonable investigation, the department or its legal counsel has certified in writing that the business entity is no longer conducting operations and that there is no realistic expectation of collecting any significant money from the entity based upon one or more of the following conditions:
A. The business entity has ceased offering retail or wholesale goods and services to the public;
B. Upon reasonable investigation, nonexempt assets of the business entity of substantial value can not be identified or are otherwise unavailable for attachment and recovery;
C. The business entity's physical location or locations of business are closed to the public;
D. The business entity's corporate status is no longer in good standing;
E. The business entity has admitted that is has insufficient assets to satisfy the debt;
F. After reasonable investigation, the department or its counsel can not locate the business entity or identify the debtor's nonexempt assets; and
G. The business entity has transferred substantially all of its business assets to a 3rd party and there are no recoverable assets as a result of the transfer.
Certification by the department that a business entity is out of business under this subsection does not preclude further collection and recovery procedures by the department, whether to formally adjudicate the indebtedness or to proceed with collection and recovery if the department becomes aware of facts that merit further recovery efforts.
Sec. OO-2. 36 MRSA §111, sub-§5,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 332, §3, is further amended to read:
5. Tax.
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"Tax" means the total amount required to be paid, withheld and paid over or collected and paid over with respect to estimated or actual tax liability under this Title and any amount assessed by the State Tax Assessor pursuant to this Title, including any interest or penalties provided by law. For purposes of sections 171, 175-A, 176-A and 186 this chapter, "tax" also means any fee, fine, penalty or other obligation debt owed to the State provided for by law if this obligation debt is subject to collection by the assessor pursuant to an agreement entered into by the bureau and another agency of the State section 112-A.
Sec. OO-3. 36 MRSA §112, sub-§9,  as amended by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. L, §5, is further amended to read:
9. Services provided to another agency of State.
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The assessor may undertake, by arrangement written agreement with another agency of the State, to provide or assist with revenue collection services for that agency after consultation with the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local government matters.
Sec. OO-4. 36 MRSA §112-A  is enacted to read:
1. Generally.
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Any agency of the State may transfer to the bureau solely for the purposes of collection any fee, fine, penalty or other debt owed to the State provided for by law if the debt is final without further right of administrative or judicial review and if the transfer of the debt is made pursuant to a written agreement entered into by the bureau and that agency.
2. Transfer of collected proceeds.
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After the deduction of the assessor's collection fee authorized by subsection 3, the assessor shall remit collections of the transferred debt to the creditor agency.
3. Collection fee.
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A collection fee calculated pursuant to section 114 for service costs of the assessor in undertaking the collection of transferred debt may be charged to the creditor agency. The fee may be deducted from collected amounts transferred to the creditor agency and deposited in the Bureau of Revenue Services Fund, Internal Services Fund account authorized by section 114. If a creditor agency is either entitled to federal matching funds against all debts collected or required by federal regulations to specially handle debts collected, the assessor shall transfer to that creditor agency the gross proceeds from collections of the transferred debt, and that agency shall promptly reimburse the collection fee to the assessor for deposit in the Bureau of Revenue Services Fund, Internal Services Fund account.
4. Accounting.
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The creditor agency shall credit the account of the debtor with the full amount of the collected debt, including the collection fee retained by, or reimbursed to, the assessor, except that the collection fee may not be credited to the account of an individual required to make restitution as provided in Title 17-A, section 1152, subsection 2-A.
5. Priority.
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The assessor may proceed with collection of any tax, including transferred debt deemed a tax debt pursuant to section 111, subsection 5, in any order of priority among such tax obligations.
Sec. OO-5. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶II,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 328, §3, is further amended to read:
II. The disclosure to an authorized representative of the Maine Milk Commission of information on the quantity of packaged milk handled in the State and subject to the milk handling fee established in section 4902 and other information obtained by the assessor in the administration of chapter 721; and
Sec. OO-6. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶JJ,  as enacted by PL 2007, c. 328, §4, is amended to read:
JJ. The disclosure to the State Purchasing Agent of a person's sales tax standing as necessary to enforce Title 5, section 1825-B, subsection 14 . ; and
Sec. OO-7. 36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶KK  is enacted to read:
KK. The disclosure to any state agency of information relating to the administration and collection of any debt transferred to the bureau for collection pursuant to section 112-A.