Premium Tax Information - Authorized Insurers & Surplus Lines Carriers

Maine Revenue Services is the state agency responsible for the processing of premium tax returns and related information. General information is summarized below, however specific inquiries should be directed to Maine Revenue Services.

Pursuant to Title 36, M.R.S.A. §2513:

Every insurance company or association that does business or collects premiums or assessments including annuity considerations in the State, except those mentioned in section 2517, including surety companies and companies engaged in the business of credit insurance or title insurance, shall, for the privilege of doing business in this State, and in addition to any other taxes imposed for such privilege pay a tax upon all gross direct premiums including annuity considerations, whether in cash or otherwise, on contracts written on risks located or resident in the State for insurance of life, annuity, fire, casualty and other risks at the rate of 2% a year. Every surplus lines insurer that does business or collects premiums in the State shall, for the privilege of doing business in this State, and in addition to any other taxes imposed for such privilege, pay a tax upon all gross direct premiums, whether in cash or otherwise, on contracts written on risks located or resident in the State at the rate of 3% a year. The tax must be paid by the insurer's licensed producer with surplus lines authority pursuant to Title 24-A, section 2016.

Notwithstanding this section, for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 1989, the tax imposed by this section upon all gross direct premiums collected or contracted for on long-term care policies, as certified by the superintendent pursuant to Title 24-A, section 5054, shall be at the rate of 1% a year.

Notwithstanding this section, for tax years commencing on or after January 1, 1997, the tax imposed by this section with respect to premiums on qualified group disability policies written by every insurer, except a large domestic insurer, must be at the rate of 1% and must be at the rate of 2.55% with respect to those premiums written by every large domestic insurer. For the purposes of this section, the term "qualified group disability policies" is limited to group health insurance policies properly reported as such in the insurer's annual statement and whose sole coverage is the full or partial replacement of an individual's income in the event of disability. Policies that contain coverages in addition to replacement of income coverage are considered to solely provide that coverage as long as the premium related to the additional coverages is not more than 10% of the total premium charged. The term "qualified group disability policies" does not include workers' compensation insurance policies, policies that include coverages that are collectively renewable, policies that provide for credit disability insurance or policies that pay benefits only upon the occurrence of hospitalization. For purposes of this section, a "large domestic insurer" is any insurer domiciled in this State with assets in excess of $5,000,000,000 as reported on its annual statement.

Pursuant to Title 36, M.R.S.A. §2514:

Sections 2512 and 2513 shall not apply to the taxation of any annuity consideration on any annuity contract issued prior to August 1, 1943. Sections 2512 and 2513 shall not apply to any premium from an insurance contract, which premium is received prior to October 1, 1969, or any consideration, regardless of when received, from any retirement annuity contracts issued by an insurance or annuity company organized and operated without profit to any private shareholder or individual exclusively for the purpose of aiding nonproprietary educational and scientific institutions pursuant to a retirement program established under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 403 (b). Premiums or considerations received from life insurance policies or annuity contracts issued in connection with the funding of a deferred compensation plan described under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 457, a pension, annuity or profit-sharing plan or individual retirement account or annuity qualified or exempt under the United States Internal Revenue Code, Section 401, 403, 404, 408 or 501, as now or hereafter amended or renumbered from time to time, shall be exempt from tax.

Pursuant to Title 25, M.R.S.A. §2399:

Every fire insurance company or association that does business or collects premiums or assessments in the State shall pay to the State Tax Assessor, in addition to the taxes now imposed by law to be paid by those companies or associations, 1.4% of the gross direct premiums for fire risks written in the State, less the amount of all direct return premiums thereon and all dividends paid to policyholders on direct fire premiums. That tax must be paid as provided for insurance premium taxes as specified in Title 36, section 2521-A, except that the tax prescribed by this section must be paid on an estimated basis at the end of each month starting July 31, 1998, with each installment equal to at least 1/12 of the estimated total tax to be paid for the current calendar year.

For further insurance company tax information, please see:
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/36/title36ch357sec0.html

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/25/title25sec2399.html

2006 Forms for Premium Tax and Surplus Lines Premium Tax can be found at:
http://www.maine.gov/revenue/forms/insurance/2006.htm

Maine Revenue Services can be reached at (207) 624-9753 or corporate.tax@maine.gov or at http://www.maine.gov/revenue.

Bureau of Insurance

OTHER PFR AGENCIES

Premium Tax Information - Authorized Insurers & Surplus Lines Carriers

Consumer Tools

Industry Tools

Employer Tools

Featured