Commercial Forestry Excise Tax

36 M.R.S. §§ 2721 - 2726

The Commercial Forestry Excise Tax (CFET) is imposed on owners of more than 500 acres of commercial forest land. The purpose of the tax is to partially offset the costs of forest fire protection expenditures of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation.

The state collects about $2.5 million in CFET tax each year. There are about 750 accounts, including over 9 million taxable acres.

Commercial Forestry Excise Tax Return

CFET Historical Data
Tax Year Assessed
CFET Rate per acre
Acres
FPD actual  expenditures
CFET Budget Net
CFET Tax Revenue
2002
0.340
9,418,690
 $8,432,333
$8,001,060
$3,200,424
2003
0.310
9,361,065
 $7,604,580
$7,296,885
$2,918,754
2004
0.310
9,279,272
 $7,185,292
$7,201,165
$2,880,466
2005
0.320
9,104,570
 $7,316,786  $7,390,269
$2,956,108
2006
0.440
9,199,988
$9,599,189
$9,886,346
$3,954,538
2007
0.380
9,199,698
 $8,555,962
$8,684,696
$3,473,878
2008
0.380
9,263,854
 $8,452,768  $8,618,166
$3,447,266
2009
0.380
9,308,579
 $8,489,815
$8,673,108
$3,469,243
2010
0.340
9,360,388
 $8,559,512
$7,737,568
$3,095,027
2011
0.380
9,325,447
 $7,877,498
$8,858,260
$3,543,304
2012
0.306
9,303,215
 $8,121,993  $7,100,515
$2,840,206
2013
0.259
9,333,028
 $8,485,900
$9,179,333
$2,411,626
2014
0.268
9,264,554
 $5,825,468  $6,185,955
$2,474,382
2015
0.269
9,346,068
 $5,521,212
$6,280,391
 $2,512,156
2016
0.280
9,196,157
 $6,142,092
$6,418,019
$2,567,208
2017
0.224
9,098,464
$6,179,762
$5,139,622
$2,055,849
2018
0.304
9,085,456
$6,030,782
$6,896,863
$2,758,745

Historical Tree Growth Tax Law Valuations (Excel)