Dirigo business incentives program

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. 2. Program. The commissioner shall create the Dirigo business incentives program. 3. Certification of qualified business. A business may apply to the commissioner for certification as a qualified business for purposes of the program. Upon review and determination by the commissioner that a business is a qualified business, the commissioner shall issue a letter of certification to the business that includes a description of the qualified business activity for which the letter is being issued. A letter of certification for a qualified business activity is valid for 5 years for purposes of this section. A letter of certification may describe qualified business activities in multiple locations and multiple eligible business sectors. The commissioner may issue more than one letter of certification to a qualified business. A business may not be a qualified business if the business is: 4. Credit allowed. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, a taxpayer who is a qualified business is allowed a credit as provided in this section. Subject to subsections 5 and 6 , the credit allowed is equal to the total of the following: 5. Credit refundable. The credit allowed under this section is refundable up to $500,000 per tax year, with the following exceptions. 6. Limitation; carry-over. A taxpayer entitled to a credit under this section for any tax year may carry over any unused portion of the credit determined in accordance with subsection 4 , as reduced from year to year, and apply it to the tax liability for any one or more of the next succeeding 4 tax years. Carry-over amounts may be applied to tax years after the expiration of a taxpayer's letter of certification issued pursuant to subsection 3 . The credit allowed pursuant to this section, including carry-overs, may not exceed $2,000,000 for any one tax year, with the following exceptions. 7. Disallowance. The credit allowed under this section must be recaptured and unused carry-over amounts under this section must be disallowed if the eligible business property forming the basis of the credit under subsection 4 is not used in the State for the entire 5-year period following the date it is placed in service. Unused carry-over amounts allowed under this section must be disallowed if the taxpayer undergoes a layoff. The amount recaptured or disallowed is equal to the credit amount allowed based on subsection 4 multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of years remaining in the 5-year period, rounded up to the nearest whole number, and the denominator of which is 5. The amount recaptured must be added to the tax imposed on the taxpayer under this Part for the tax year during which the property is first removed from service in the State. Unused carry-over amounts are not required to be disallowed and the credit is not required to be recaptured for eligible business property temporarily removed from service for maintenance or repair or as a result of a catastrophic event. 8. Eligible business property. To qualify as eligible business property, a property must be placed in service in the State and must be subject to an allowance for depreciation under the Code during the tax year or would be subject to an allowance for depreciation under the Code if the property had not been expensed under Section 179 of the Code. 9. Rules. The assessor and the commissioner may adopt joint rules necessary to implement this section. Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A . 10. Annual report to department and Legislature. On or before December 31st annually, beginning in 2026, the assessor shall report to the department the following information for each qualified business that received a credit pursuant to this section for the tax year ending during the immediately preceding calendar year: 11. Evaluation; specific public policy objective; performance measures. The credit provided under this section is subject to legislative review in accordance with Title 3, section 999 . In developing evaluation parameters to perform the review, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, the joint legislative committee established to oversee program evaluation and government accountability matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over taxation matters shall consider: