Under Maine's new tax reform law, all chocolate is not taxed equally, and that concerns Sen. Phil Bartlett. Bartlett, a Cumberland County Democrat who has two chocolate companies in his district, is proposing a measure he says will fix a problem that has both chocolate makers and chocolate eaters upset.
"Inadvertantly we've created this multi-tiered taxation of chocolates and candy," Bartlett told Capitol News Service. "And so trying to figure out, how do we harmonize that to make it easier -- administratively easier."
Bartlett says it makes no sense to tax different kinds of chocolate at different rates. But it's not clear whether the law Bartlett is targeting will actually take effect in January, as scheduled. Petitions aimed at repealing the law were submitted last month to the Secretary of State and signatures are still being counted.
Bartlett says he's submitted his bill to simplify the tax on chocolate in case the petitions do fall short of forcing a vote on the tax reform bill next June.