An Act to Encourage New Residential Housing Through a Tax Exemption for the Sale or Rental of Such Housing

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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1924
H.P. 1285 House of Representatives, May 6, 2025
An Act to Encourage New Residential Housing Through a Tax
Exemption for the Sale or Rental of Such Housing
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative WALKER of Naples.

Page 1 - 132LR1728(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §5122, sub-§2, ¶AAA is enacted to read:
3 AAA. For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 but before January 1,
4 2031, to the extent included in federal adjusted gross income and to the extent
5 otherwise subject to Maine income tax, the amount of any gain resulting from the sale
6 of new residential housing in this State intended for occupancy by the purchaser or
7 from the lease of new residential housing in this State intended for occupancy by the
8 lessee. As used in this paragraph, "new residential housing" means a residential unit
9 of which at least half of the square footage has not been occupied in the 12 months
10 prior to the unit's sale or lease and includes, but is not limited to, single-family and
11 multi-unit residential housing, mobile homes and manufactured housing. The
12 deduction allowed by this paragraph may be taken for the taxable year in which the
13 new residential housing is first occupied by the purchaser or lessee and continues until
14 the new residential housing is no longer occupied by the purchaser or the lessee or the
15 taxable year ending December 31, 2031, whichever occurs first.
16Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §5200-A, sub-§2, ¶JJ is enacted to read:
17 JJ. For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 but before January 1, 2031,
18 to the extent included in federal adjusted gross income and to the extent otherwise
19 subject to Maine income tax, the amount of any gain resulting from the sale of new
20 residential housing in this State intended for occupancy by the purchaser or from the
21 lease of new residential housing in this State intended for occupancy by the lessee. As
22 used in this paragraph, "new residential housing" means a residential unit of which at
23 least half of the square footage has not been occupied in the 12 months prior to the
24 unit's sale or lease and includes, but is not limited to, single family and multi-unit
25 residential housing, mobile homes and manufactured housing. The deduction allowed
26 by this paragraph may be taken for the taxable year in which the new residential
27 housing is first occupied by the purchaser or lessee and continues until the new
28 residential housing is no longer occupied by the purchaser or the lessee or the taxable
29 year ending December 31, 2031, whichever occurs first.
30SUMMARY
31 This bill provides a 5-year moratorium beginning January 1, 2026 and ending
32 December 31, 2031 on the levy of Maine income tax for a resident individual or a
33 corporation that sells or leases new residential housing occupied by the purchaser or that
34 leases new residential housing occupied by the lessee. The bill defines "new residential
35 housing" to mean a residential unit that at least half of the square footage of which has not
36 been occupied in the 12 months prior to its sale or lease and includes single-family and
37 multi-unit residential housing, mobile homes and manufactured housing.
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