15-31-801. State revenue from depository -- purpose and preference. (1) The legislature recognizes that revenue gains to the state and the possibility of subsequent tax reduction for Montana taxpayers are among the most significant reasons for establishing a statutory framework for the foreign capital depository, as defined in 32-8-103, and that a relatively steady, predictable flow of revenue is preferable to a volatile one. The legislature also acknowledges that the depository is subject to competitive pressures in the international financial services market. It is therefore in the state's interest to balance revenue expectations with incentives that will enhance the commercial attractiveness and viability of a depository.
     (2) The legislature recognizes the hazards of fortune that may be suffered by customers of a depository who are citizens or residents of countries with unstable or repressive governments and recognizes that capital in a depository may be abandoned as a consequence of a customer's disappearance or untimely death. It is in the state's interest to provide a decent interval of time before determining that capital is abandoned and, in keeping with subsection (1), to allow a depository to charge a reasonable fee for the maintenance of the abandoned capital prior to its escheatment to the state.

     History: En. Sec. 56, Ch. 382, L. 1997.