The Florida Senate

213.24  Accrual of penalties and interest on deficiencies; deficiency billing costs.--

(1)  If notice and demand is made for the payment of any amount due under laws applicable to this chapter and if such amount is paid within 30 days after the date of such billing or notice and demand, no additional penalties or interest under this section on the amount so paid shall be imposed for the period after the date of such notice and demand.

(2)(a)  Billings for deficiencies or automated refunds of tax, penalty, or interest may not be issued for an amount less than the actual costs incurred to produce a billing or automated refund.

(b)  The cost of issuing billings or automated refunds for any tax or fee enumerated in s. 213.05 or chapter 443 shall be computed in a study performed by the inspector general of the department. The study shall be conducted every 3 years and at such other times as deemed necessary by the inspector general. A minimum billing and automated refund amount shall be established and adjusted in accordance with the results of such study.

(c)  Any change in minimum billing or automated refund amounts is effective on July 1 following the completion of the study.

¹(3)  An administrative collection processing fee shall be imposed to offset payment processing and administrative costs incurred by the state due to late payment of a collection event.

(a)  As used in this subsection, the term:

1.  "Collection event" means when a taxpayer fails to:

a.  Timely file a complete return;

b.  Timely pay the full amount of tax reported on a return; or

c.  Timely pay the full amount due resulting from an audit after all appeal rights have expired or the result has been finally determined.

2.  "Extraordinary circumstances" means events beyond the control of the taxpayer, including, but not limited to, the taxpayer's death; acts of war or terrorism; natural disaster, fire, or other casualty; or the nonfeasance or misfeasance of the taxpayer's employee or representative responsible for complying with the taxes and fees listed in s. 213.05 and chapter 443. With respect to acts of the taxpayer's employee or representative, the taxpayer must show that the principals of the business lacked actual knowledge of the collection event and any notification of the collection event.

(b)  The department shall collect the fee from a taxpayer who fails to pay the full amount of tax, penalty, and interest due within 90 days following initial notification of the collection event. The department may waive or reduce the fee if the taxpayer demonstrates that the failure to pay the full amount due within 90 days following the initial notification was due to extraordinary circumstances. The fee applies to those taxes and fees listed in s. 213.05 and chapter 443 and administered by the department.

(c)  The fee is equal to 10 percent of the total amount of tax, penalty, and interest which remains unpaid after 90 days, or $10 for each collection event, whichever is greater. The fee shall be imposed in addition to the taxes, fees, penalties, and interest prescribed by law.

(d)  Fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall be distributed each fiscal year as follows:

1.  The first $6.2 million collected shall be deposited into the department's Operations Trust Fund.

2.  Any amount collected above $6.2 million shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund.

History.--s. 42, ch. 85-342; s. 30, ch. 86-152; s. 23, ch. 89-356; s. 34, ch. 2002-218; s. 2, ch. 2009-67.

¹Note.--Section 4, ch. 2009-67, provides that "[t]he fee imposed by s. 213.24(3), Florida Statutes, as created by this act, applies retroactively to any remaining unpaid amount of tax, interest, and penalty due from any collection event occurring before [May 27, 2009]. However, the Department of Revenue may not collect such fee until September 1, 2009, calculated on the amount remaining unpaid on that date."