The Florida Senate

203.01  Tax on gross receipts for utility and communications services.--

(1)(a)1.  Every person that receives payment for any utility service shall report by the last day of each month to the Department of Revenue, under oath of the secretary or some other officer of such person, the total amount of gross receipts derived from business done within this state, or between points within this state, for the preceding month and, at the same time, shall pay into the State Treasury an amount equal to a percentage of such gross receipts at the rate set forth in paragraph (b). Such collections shall be certified by the Chief Financial Officer upon the request of the State Board of Education.

2.  A tax is levied on communications services as defined in s. 202.11(3). Such tax shall be applied to the same services and transactions as are subject to taxation under chapter 202, and to communications services that are subject to the exemption provided in s. 202.125(1). Such tax shall be applied to the sales price of communications services when sold at retail and to the actual cost of operating substitute communications systems, as such terms are defined in s. 202.11, shall be due and payable at the same time as the taxes imposed pursuant to chapter 202, and shall be administered and collected pursuant to the provisions of chapter 202.

(b)  The rate applied to utility services shall be 2.5 percent. The rate applied to communications services shall be 2.37 percent.

(c)  Electricity produced by cogeneration or by small power producers which is transmitted and distributed by a public utility between two locations of a customer of the utility pursuant to s. 366.051 is subject to the tax imposed by this section. The tax shall be applied to the cost price of such electricity as provided in s. 212.02(4) and shall be paid each month by the producer of such electricity.

(d)  Electricity produced by cogeneration or by small power producers during the 12-month period ending June 30 of each year which is in excess of nontaxable electricity produced during the 12-month period ending June 30, 1990, is subject to the tax imposed by this section. The tax shall be applied to the cost price of such electricity as provided in s. 212.02(4) and shall be paid each month, beginning with the month in which total production exceeds the production of nontaxable electricity for the 12-month period ending June 30, 1990. For purposes of this paragraph, "nontaxable electricity" means electricity produced by cogeneration or by small power producers which is not subject to tax under paragraph (c). Taxes paid pursuant to paragraph (c) may be credited against taxes due under this paragraph. Electricity generated as part of an industrial manufacturing process which manufactures products from phosphate rock, raw wood fiber, paper, citrus, or any agricultural product shall not be subject to the tax imposed by this paragraph. "Industrial manufacturing process" means the entire process conducted at the location where the process takes place.

(e)  Any person other than a cogenerator or small power producer described in paragraph (d) who produces for his or her own use electrical energy which is a substitute for electrical energy produced by an electric utility as defined in s. 366.02 is subject to the tax imposed by this section. The tax shall be applied to the cost price of such electrical energy as provided in s. 212.02(4) and shall be paid each month. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to any electrical energy produced and used by an electric utility.

(f)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, with the exception of a telephone or telecommunication system described in ¹paragraph (c), the department may require:

1.  A quarterly return and payment when the tax remitted for the preceding four calendar quarters did not exceed $1,000;

2.  A semiannual return and payment when the tax remitted for the preceding four calendar quarters did not exceed $500; or

3.  An annual return and payment when the tax remitted for the preceding four calendar quarters did not exceed $100.

(2)(a)  In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who fails to timely report and pay any tax imposed on gross receipts from utility services under this chapter shall pay a penalty equal to 10 percent of any unpaid tax, if the failure is for less than 31 days, plus an additional 10 percent of any unpaid tax for each additional 30 days or fraction thereof. However, such penalty may not be less than $10 or exceed a total of 50 percent in the aggregate of any unpaid tax.

(b)  In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who falsely or fraudulently reports or unlawfully attempts to evade paying any tax imposed on gross receipts from utility services under this chapter shall pay a penalty equal to 100 percent of any tax due and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided under s. 775.082 or s. 775.083

(3)  The term "gross receipts" as used herein does not include gross receipts of any person derived from:

(a)  The sale of natural gas or manufactured gas to a public or private utility, including a municipal corporation or rural electric cooperative association, either for resale or for use as fuel in the generation of electricity; or

(b)  The sale of electricity to a public or private utility, including a municipal corporation or rural electric cooperative association, for resale within the state, or as part of an electrical interchange agreement or contract between such utilities for the purpose of transferring more economically generated power;

provided the person deriving gross receipts from such sale demonstrates that a resale in fact occurred and complies with the following requirements: A resale in this state must be in strict compliance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Revenue; and any person making a sale for resale in this state which is not in strict compliance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Revenue shall be liable for and pay the tax. Any person making a sale for resale in this state may, through an informal protest provided for in s. 213.21 and the rules of the Department of Revenue, provide the department with evidence of the exempt status of a sale. The department shall adopt rules which provide that valid proof and documentation of the resale in this state by a person making the sale for resale in this state will be accepted by the department when submitted during the protest period but will not be accepted when submitted in any proceeding under chapter 120 or any circuit court action instituted under chapter 72.

(4)  The tax imposed pursuant to this chapter relating to the provision of any utility services at the option of the person supplying the taxable services may be separately stated as Florida gross receipts tax on the total amount of any bill, invoice, or other tangible evidence of the provision of such taxable services and may be added as a component part of the total charge. Whenever a provider of taxable services elects to separately state such tax as a component of the charge for the provision of such taxable services, every person, including all governmental units, shall remit the tax to the person who provides such taxable services as a part of the total bill, and the tax is a component part of the debt of the purchaser to the person who provides such taxable services until paid and, if unpaid, is recoverable at law in the same manner as any other part of the charge for such taxable services. For a utility, the decision to separately state any increase in the rate of tax imposed by this chapter which is effective after December 31, 1989, and the ability to recover the increased charge from the customer shall not be subject to regulatory approval.

(5)  The tax is imposed upon every person for the privilege of conducting a utility or communications services business, and each provider of the taxable services remains fully and completely liable for the tax, even if the tax is separately stated as a line item or component of the total bill.

(6)  Any person who provides such services and who fails, neglects, or refuses to remit the tax imposed in this chapter, either by himself or herself, or through agents or employees, is liable for the tax and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083

(7)  Gross receipts subject to the tax imposed by this section for the provision of electricity shall include receipts from monthly customer charges or monthly customer facility charges.

(8)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) and s. 212.07(2), sums that were charged or billed as taxes under this section and chapter 212 and that were remitted to the state in full as taxes shall not be subject to refund by the state or by the utility or other person that remitted the sums, when the amount remitted was not in excess of the amount of tax imposed by chapter 212 and this section.

History.--ss. 1, 2, ch. 15658, 1931; CGL 1936 Supp. 1279(108), (109); s. 7, ch. 22858, 1945; s. 1, ch. 57-819; s. 7, ch. 63-253; s. 5, ch. 65-371; s. 2, ch. 65-420; ss. 21, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 10, ch. 75-292; s. 3, ch. 80-381; s. 15, ch. 83-137; ss. 1, 4, ch. 84-342; s. 29, ch. 85-116; s. 2, ch. 85-174; s. 2, ch. 86-155; s. 68, ch. 87-6; s. 41, ch. 87-101; s. 43, ch. 87-224; s. 7, ch. 89-292; s. 12, ch. 89-356; s. 14, ch. 90-132; s. 11, ch. 91-112; s. 234, ch. 91-224; s. 8, ch. 92-320; s. 10, ch. 93-233; s. 1054, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-403; s. 12, ch. 96-397; s. 6, ch. 97-233; s. 11, ch. 98-277; ss. 40, 41, 58, ch. 2000-260; s. 10, ch. 2000-355; ss. 25, 38, ch. 2001-140; s. 1, ch. 2003-17; s. 178, ch. 2003-261.

¹Note.--Former paragraph (c) was repealed by s. 41, ch. 2000-260.