House Bill 4401

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

        By Representative Feeney






  1                      A bill to be entitled

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

  3         other transactions; amending s. 212.08, F.S.;

  4         amending the exemption for machinery and

  5         equipment used in silicon technology production

  6         and research and development; deleting the

  7         requirement that the exemption be accomplished

  8         through the refund of taxes that were

  9         previously paid; requiring certification by a

10         purchaser of entitlement to the exemption and

11         relieving the seller of responsibility to

12         collect tax; deleting the provision that the

13         refund is subject to a specific annual

14         legislative appropriation; providing an

15         effective date.

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

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19         Section 1.  Paragraph (j) of subsection (5) of section

20  212.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

21         212.08  Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution,

22  and storage tax; specified exemptions.--The sale at retail,

23  the rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and

24  the storage to be used or consumed in this state of the

25  following are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed

26  by this chapter.

27         (5)  EXEMPTIONS; ACCOUNT OF USE.--

28         (j)  Machinery and equipment used in silicon technology

29  production and research and development.--

30         1.  Industrial machinery and equipment purchased for

31  use in silicon technology facilities certified under

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

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  1  subparagraph 5. to manufacture, process, compound, or produce

  2  silicon technology products for sale or for use by these

  3  facilities are exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter.

  4         2.  Machinery and equipment are exempt from the tax

  5  imposed by this chapter if purchased for use predominately in

  6  silicon wafer research and development activities in a silicon

  7  technology research and development facility certified under

  8  subparagraph 5.

  9         3.  In addition to meeting The exemptions authorized in

10  subparagraphs 1. and 2. accrue to the taxpayer through a

11  refund of previously paid taxes. A refund may not be made

12  unless the criteria mandated by subparagraph 1. or

13  subparagraph 2., a have been met and the business must be has

14  been certified by the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic

15  Development as authorized in this paragraph in order to

16  qualify for exemption under this paragraph.

17         4.  For items purchased tax exempt pursuant to this

18  paragraph, possession of a written certification from the

19  purchaser, certifying the purchaser's entitlement to exemption

20  pursuant to this paragraph, relieves the seller of the

21  responsibility of collecting the tax on the sale of such

22  items, and the department shall look solely to the purchaser

23  for recovery of tax if it determines that the purchaser was

24  not entitled to the exemption.

25         5.4.a.  To be eligible to receive the exemption

26  provided by subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2., a qualifying

27  business entity shall apply to Enterprise Florida, Inc. The

28  application shall be developed by the Office of Tourism,

29  Trade, and Economic Development in consultation with

30  Enterprise Florida, Inc.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

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  1         b.  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall review each

  2  submitted application and information and determine whether or

  3  not the application is complete within 5 working days. Once an

  4  application is complete, Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall,

  5  within 10 working days, evaluate the application and recommend

  6  approval or disapproval of the application to the Office of

  7  Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development.

  8         c.  Upon receipt of the application and recommendation

  9  from Enterprise Florida, Inc., the Office of Tourism, Trade,

10  and Economic Development shall certify within 5 working days

11  those applicants who are found to meet the requirements of

12  this section and notify the applicant, Enterprise Florida,

13  Inc., and the department of the certification. If the Office

14  of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development finds that the

15  applicant does not meet the requirements of this section, it

16  shall notify the applicant and Enterprise Florida, Inc.,

17  within 10 working days that the application for certification

18  has been denied and the reasons for denial. The Office of

19  Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development has final approval

20  authority for certification under this section.

21         6.5.a.  A business certified to receive this exemption

22  may apply once each year for the exemption refund of all

23  eligible taxes paid during the previous calendar year. The

24  refund shall be subject to a specific annual appropriation

25  from the Legislature to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and

26  Economic Development for the payment of such refunds.

27         b.  The first claim submitted by a business may include

28  all eligible expenditures made after the date the business was

29  certified.

30         c.  To apply for the annual exemption refund, the

31  business shall submit a refund claim to the Office of Tourism,

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

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  1  Trade, and Economic Development, which claim indicates and

  2  documents the sales and use taxes otherwise payable paid on

  3  eligible machinery and equipment. The claim must shall also

  4  indicate, for program evaluation purposes only, the average

  5  number of full-time equivalent employees at the facility over

  6  the preceding calendar year, the average wage and benefits

  7  paid to those employees over the preceding calendar year, and

  8  the total investment made in real and tangible personal

  9  property over the preceding calendar year or, for the first

10  claim submitted, since the date of certification. The

11  department shall assist the Office of Tourism, Trade, and

12  Economic Development in evaluating and verifying information

13  provided in the application for exemption an annual refund.

14         d.  An application for refund must be submitted to the

15  Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development by February

16  15 of each year. In the event that the Legislature does not

17  appropriate an amount sufficient to satisfy all refund

18  applications received by the Office of Tourism, Trade, and

19  Economic Development, the office shall, not later than April

20  15 of each year, determine the proportion of each refund claim

21  which shall be paid by dividing the amount appropriated for

22  tax refunds for the fiscal year by the total of refund claims

23  received. The amount of each claim for a tax refund shall be

24  multiplied by the resulting quotient. If, after the payment of

25  all such refund claims, there are appropriated funds

26  remaining, the office shall recalculate the proportion for

27  each refund claim and adjust the amount of each claim

28  accordingly.

29         d.e.  The Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic

30  Development may use the information reported on the claims for

31  evaluation purposes only and shall prepare an annual report on

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

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  1  the exemption program and its cost and impact. The annual

  2  report for the preceding fiscal year shall be submitted to the

  3  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the

  4  House of Representatives by September 30 of each fiscal year.

  5  This report may be submitted in conjunction with the annual

  6  report required in s. 288.095(3)(c).

  7         7.6.  A business certified to receive this exemption

  8  may elect to designate one or more state universities or

  9  community colleges as recipients of up to 100 percent of the

10  amount of the exemption refund for which they may qualify. To

11  receive these funds the tax refund or portion of the tax

12  refund, the institution must agree to match the these funds so

13  earned with equivalent cash, programs, services, or other

14  in-kind support on a one-to-one basis in the pursuit of

15  research and development projects as requested by the

16  certified business. The rights to any patents, royalties, or

17  real or intellectual property must be vested in the business

18  unless otherwise agreed to by the business and the university

19  or community college.

20         8.7.  As used in this paragraph, the term:

21         a.  "Predominately" means at least 50 percent of the

22  time in qualifying research and development.

23         b.  "Research and development" means basic and applied

24  research in the science or engineering, as well as the design,

25  development, and testing of prototypes or processes of new or

26  improved products. Research and development does not include

27  market research, routine consumer product testing, sales

28  research, research in the social sciences or psychology,

29  nontechnological activities, or technical services.

30         c.  "Silicon technology products" means raw silicon

31  wafers that are transformed into semiconductor memory or logic

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4401

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  1  wafers, including wafers containing mixed memory and logic

  2  circuits; related assembly and test operations; active-matrix

  3  flat panel displays; semiconductor chips; and related silicon

  4  technology products as determined by the Office of Tourism,

  5  Trade, and Economic Development.

  6         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1 of the

  7  year in which enacted.

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  9            *****************************************

10                          HOUSE SUMMARY

11
      Amends the exemption from the tax on sales, use, and
12    other transactions which applies to machinery and
      equipment used in silicon technology production and
13    research and development. Deletes the requirement that
      such an exemption be accomplished through the refund of
14    taxes paid during the previous calendar year. Requires
      certification by a purchaser of entitlement to the
15    exemption and relieves the seller of responsibility to
      collect tax. Deletes the provision that the refund is
16    subject to a specific annual legislative appropriation.

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