Olga Goldberg Quoted in Tax Notes: “Maine Adopts Apportionment Rule Sans Sourcing Language”

Maine Revenue Services (MRS) has removed, “where the services are acquired or experienced” from Rule 801, after several tax organizations said it would constitute, “a substantive change, create confusion, and significantly hinder compliance.”

According to MRS, the amendment to the rule, which became effective on June 25, 2025, was “intended to clarify the term ‘received’ in its provision stating that receipts from the performance of services must be sourced to the state in which the services are received.” Public comments, however, stated that the additional language was, “a source of confusion.”

Pierce Atwood tax attorney Olga Goldberg, who has written previously on this topic, told Tax Notes that the proposed apportionment changes were criticized as “ambiguous, burdensome, and ultimately impossible to comply with.” And while Olga said that she’d have preferred MRS withdraw the rule changes entirely, she said, “the deletion of the ‘acquired or experienced’ standard should come as a relief for Maine taxpayers.”

Olga indicated additional concerns about what the amendments did not address, such as retroactivity, lack of legislative authority for the substantive amendments, and the potential for a new tax obligation to obtain third parties’ business records.

The complete article by Emily Hollingsworth can be found online in a Tax Notes article dated June 26, 2025.

Olga J. Goldberg advises clients in complex state and local tax matters. She represents clients on tax controversies from the administrative level through litigation and appeal or settlement, and counsels businesses of all sizes on multistate transaction planning and tax compliance. Olga’s practice covers all types of state and local taxes, including corporate income, business profits, franchise, sales and use, gross receipts and property tax, with a focus on New England taxes.