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An Act To Exempt Certain Print Publications from Sales Tax
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §1760, sub-§14-A, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 564, §1 and affected by §3, is amended to read:
 
14-A. Publications and components of publications.   Sales of publications and printed materials included in publications as follows:
 
A. Any publication that is purchased for distribution without charge as a free publication; and
 
B. Printed paper materials, including advertising flyers and promotional materials, purchased for inclusion in a publication.; and
 
C.  Any publication that is issued at an average interval not exceeding 7 days.
 
For purposes of this subsection, "publication" means printed paper material, including without limitation newspapers, magazines and trade journals and employee, client and organization newsletters, issued at average intervals not exceeding 3 months7 days that manifests a continuity of identity from issue to issue by a front page masthead bearing the name, date, volume and issue number of the publication and by a continuity of style, format, themes and subject matter. For purposes of this subsection, "publication" does not include printed paper materials consisting primarily of advertisements or the promotion of a single seller's products or services.
Sec. 2. Effective date. This Act takes effect October 1, 2019.
 
SUMMARY
This bill expands the sales tax exemption for free publications to also apply to printed publications, including daily newspapers, that are issued at least once every 7 days, on average.