Tax Incentives

Employment Tax Increment Financing (ETIF)
Employment Tax Increment Financing assists in the financing of business investment projects that create at least five net new, high quality jobs in Maine. An ETIF-approved business may be reimbursed 30, 50, or 75 percent (80 percent in Pine Tree Zones) of the state income tax withholdings from the net new payroll for up to ten years.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District is an area within a municipality that is designated as a development district to allow the municipality to financially support a business development project. The municipality may disburse the tax increment directly to the investing business to help pay project costs, use it to retire bonds it issues as part of the project, or retain it for allowable economic development purposes.

Technology Tax Credits
Maine has several tax credit programs specifically designed to encourage the growth of technology companies in the state. They are:

• The Research Expense Tax Credit
• The R&D Super Credit
• The High-Technology Investment Tax Credit

Jobs and Investment Tax Credit
The Jobs and Investment Tax Credit is the federal credit amount based on investment in qualified property. Eligible businesses include any business, other than a public utility, that invests at least $5 million in a taxable year in qualifying types of personal property in Maine and creates 100 new jobs over the ensuing two-year period.

Pine Tree Development Zone (PTDZ) – this program offers eligible businesses the chance to greatly reduce or virtually eliminate state taxes for up to ten years (5 years for Tier 2 municipalities) when they create new, quality jobs in certain business sectors or move existing jobs in those sectors to Maine.  All Pine Tree Development Zone benefits can be “layered” over other available benefits. 

Sales Tax Exemptions
Maine state sales tax exemptions are available for manufacturing, R&D, custom computer programming, fuel & electricity, biotechnology, and clean fuel vehicle sales.

Sales and Use Tax Exemption
This benefit derives from paying no tax on construction materials and equipment purchases.

Sales and Use Tax Reimbursement
The tax reimbursement benefit, effective date of certification, derives from paying no tax on all new tangible property purchases that are to be physically incorporated in, and become a permanent part of, real property of a qualified business and used in its qualified business activity.