Senate Bill 1746

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746

    By Senator Harris





    24-986-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the tax on sales, use, and

  3         other transactions; amending ss. 212.04 and

  4         212.12, F.S.; increasing the maximum amount of

  5         tax remitted by a dealer to which the dealer's

  6         credit applies; repealing s. 212.18(5), F.S.,

  7         which imposes an additional annual registration

  8         fee on dealers who have taxable sales or

  9         purchases of $30,000 or more, and s.

10         212.20(6)(d), F.S., which provides for deposit

11         of the proceeds of fees imposed under s.

12         212.18(5), F.S., in the Solid Waste Management

13         Trust Fund; amending ss. 212.20, 218.65, and

14         288.1169, F.S., to conform and correct

15         references; providing an effective date.

16

17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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19         Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 212.04, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended to read:

21         212.04  Admissions tax; rate, procedure, enforcement.--

22         (5)  All of the provisions of this chapter relating to

23  collection, investigation, discovery, and aids to collection

24  of taxes upon sales of tangible personal property shall

25  likewise apply to all privileges described or referred to in

26  this section, and the obligations imposed in this chapter upon

27  retailers are hereby imposed upon the seller of such

28  admissions. When tickets or admissions are sold and not used

29  but returned and credited by the seller, the seller may apply

30  to the department for a credit allowance for such returned

31  tickets or admissions if advance payments have been made by

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
    24-986-98




  1  the buyer and have been returned by the seller, upon such form

  2  and in such manner as the department may from time to time

  3  prescribe.  The department may, upon obtaining satisfactory

  4  proof of the refunds on the part of the seller, credit the

  5  seller for taxes paid upon admissions that have been returned

  6  unused to the purchaser of those admissions. The seller of

  7  admissions, upon the payment of the taxes before they become

  8  delinquent and the rendering of the returns in accordance with

  9  the requirement of the department and as provided in this law,

10  shall be entitled to a discount of 2.5 percent of the amount

11  of taxes upon the payment thereof before such taxes become

12  delinquent, in the same manner as permitted the sellers of

13  tangible personal property in this chapter.  However, if the

14  amount of the tax due and remitted to the department for the

15  reporting period exceeds $2,000 $1,200, a no discount may not

16  shall be allowed for all amounts in excess of $2,000 $1,200.

17         Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 212.12, Florida

18  Statutes, is amended to read:

19         212.12  Dealer's credit for collecting tax; penalties

20  for noncompliance; powers of Department of Revenue in dealing

21  with delinquents; brackets applicable to taxable transactions;

22  records required.--

23         (1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law and for

24  the purpose of compensating persons granting licenses for and

25  the lessors of real and personal property taxed hereunder, for

26  the purpose of compensating dealers in tangible personal

27  property, for the purpose of compensating dealers providing

28  communication services and taxable services, for the purpose

29  of compensating owners of places where admissions are

30  collected, and for the purpose of compensating remitters of

31  any taxes or fees reported on the same documents utilized for

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
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  1  the sales and use tax, as compensation for the keeping of

  2  prescribed records and the proper accounting and remitting of

  3  taxes by them, such seller, person, lessor, dealer, owner, and

  4  remitter (except dealers who make mail order sales) shall be

  5  allowed 2.5 percent of the amount of the tax due and accounted

  6  for and remitted to the department, in the form of a deduction

  7  in submitting his or her report and paying the amount due by

  8  him or her; the department shall allow such deduction of 2.5

  9  percent of the amount of the tax to the person paying the same

10  for remitting the tax in the manner herein provided, for

11  paying the amount due to be paid by him or her, and as further

12  compensation to dealers in tangible personal property for the

13  keeping of prescribed records and for collection of taxes and

14  remitting the same. However, if the amount of the tax due and

15  remitted to the department for the reporting period exceeds

16  $2,000 $1,200, an no allowance may not shall be allowed for

17  all amounts in excess of $2,000 $1,200.  The executive

18  director of the department is authorized to negotiate a

19  collection allowance, pursuant to rules promulgated by the

20  department, with a dealer who makes mail order sales.  The

21  rules of the department shall provide guidelines for

22  establishing the collection allowance based upon the dealer's

23  estimated costs of collecting the tax, the volume and value of

24  the dealer's mail order sales to purchasers in this state, and

25  the administrative and legal costs and likelihood of achieving

26  collection of the tax absent the cooperation of the dealer.

27  However, in no event shall the collection allowance negotiated

28  by the executive director exceed 10 percent of the tax

29  remitted for a reporting period.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
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  1         (a)  The collection allowance may not be granted, nor

  2  may any deduction be permitted, if the tax is delinquent at

  3  the time of payment.

  4         (b)  The Department of Revenue may reduce the

  5  collection allowance by 10 percent or $50, whichever is less,

  6  if a taxpayer files an incomplete return.

  7         1.  An "incomplete return" is, for purposes of this

  8  chapter, a return which is lacking such uniformity,

  9  completeness, and arrangement that the physical handling,

10  verification, or review of the return may not be readily

11  accomplished.

12         2.  The department shall adopt rules requiring such

13  information as it may deem necessary to ensure that the tax

14  levied hereunder is properly collected, reviewed, compiled,

15  and enforced, including, but not limited to: the amount of

16  gross sales; the amount of taxable sales; the amount of tax

17  collected or due; the amount of lawful refunds, deductions, or

18  credits claimed; the amount claimed as the dealer's collection

19  allowance; the amount of penalty and interest; the amount due

20  with the return; and such other information as the Department

21  of Revenue may specify. The department shall require that

22  transient rentals and agricultural equipment transactions be

23  separately shown. For returns remitted on or after February 1,

24  1992, the department shall also require that sales made

25  through vending machines as defined in s. 212.0515 be

26  separately shown. For returns remitted on or after February 1,

27  1995, sales made through coin-operated amusement machines as

28  defined by s. 212.02 and the number of machines operated must

29  be separately shown on the return or on a form prescribed by

30  the department. If a separate form is required, the same

31  penalties for late filing, incomplete filing, or failure to

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
    24-986-98




  1  file as provided for the sales tax return shall apply to said

  2  form.

  3         (c)  The collection allowance and other credits or

  4  deductions provided in this chapter shall be applied

  5  proportionally to any taxes or fees reported on the same

  6  documents used for the sales and use tax.

  7         Section 3.  Subsection (5) of section 212.18, Florida

  8  Statutes, is repealed.

  9         Section 4.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of section

10  212.20, Florida Statutes, is repealed, and subsection (1) of

11  that section is amended to read:

12         212.20  Funds collected, disposition; additional powers

13  of department; operational expense; refund of taxes

14  adjudicated unconstitutionally collected.--

15         (1)  The department shall pay over to the Treasurer of

16  the state all funds received and collected by it under the

17  provisions of this chapter, to be credited to the account of

18  the General Revenue Fund of the state, except the proceeds of

19  the fee imposed pursuant to s. 212.18(5).

20         Section 5.  Subsections (5) and (6) of section 218.65,

21  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

22         218.65  Emergency distribution.--

23         (5)  At the beginning of each fiscal year, the

24  Department of Revenue shall calculate a base allocation for

25  each eligible county equal to the difference between the

26  current per capita limitation times the county's population,

27  minus prior year ordinary distributions to the county pursuant

28  to ss. 212.20(6)(e)3. 212.20(6)(g)3., 218.61, and 218.62.  If

29  moneys deposited into the Local Government Half-cent Sales Tax

30  Clearing Trust Fund pursuant to s. 212.20(6)(e)4. s.

31  212.20(6)(g)4., excluding moneys appropriated for supplemental

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
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  1  distributions pursuant to subsection (7), for the current year

  2  are less than or equal to the sum of the base allocations,

  3  each eligible county shall receive a share of the appropriated

  4  amount proportional to its base allocation.  If the deposited

  5  amount exceeds the sum of the base allocations, each county

  6  shall receive its base allocation, and the excess appropriated

  7  amount shall be distributed equally on a per capita basis

  8  among the eligible counties.

  9         (6)  There is hereby annually appropriated from the

10  Local Government Half-cent Sales Tax Clearing Trust Fund the

11  distribution provided in s. 212.20(6)(e)4. s. 212.20(6)(g)4.

12  to be used for emergency and supplemental distributions

13  pursuant to this section.

14         Section 6.  Subsection (6) of section 288.1169, Florida

15  Statutes, is amended to read:

16         288.1169  International Game Fish Association World

17  Center facility; department duties.--

18         (6)  The Department of Commerce must recertify every 10

19  years that the facility is open, that the International Game

20  Fish Association World Center continues to be the only

21  international administrative headquarters, fishing museum, and

22  Hall of Fame in the United States recognized by the

23  International Game Fish Association, and that the project is

24  meeting the minimum projections for attendance or sales tax

25  revenues as required at the time of original certification.

26  If the facility is not recertified during this 10-year review

27  as meeting the minimum projections, then funding will be

28  abated until certification criteria are met.  If the project

29  fails to generate $1 million of annual revenues pursuant to

30  paragraph (2)(e), the distribution of revenues pursuant to s.

31  212.60(e)5.c. s. 212.20(6)(g)5.c. shall be reduced to an

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 1746
    24-986-98




  1  amount equal to $83,333 multiplied by a fraction, the

  2  numerator of which is the actual revenues generated and the

  3  denominator of which is $1 million.  Such reduction shall

  4  remain in effect until revenues generated by the project in a

  5  12-month period equal or exceed $1 million.

  6         Section 7.  This act shall take effect January 1, 1999.

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  9                       LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

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      Increases from $1,200 to $2,000 the maximum amount of tax
11    remitted by a sales tax dealer to which the dealer's
      credit applies. Repeals the additional annual
12    registration fee imposed on dealers who have taxable
      sales or purchases of $30,000 or more in the preceding
13    year.

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