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House Bill 0747c1

Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 747 By the Committee on Finance & Taxation and Representatives K. Pruitt, Feeney, Westbrook and Spratt 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to tax on sales, use, and other 3 transactions; providing that no tax on certain 4 purchases by, and revenues of, a chamber of 5 commerce not actually paid or collected before 6 a specified date shall be due from that chamber 7 of commerce; providing for refund of certain 8 taxes paid; providing an effective date. 9 10 WHEREAS, the promotion of business within the State of 11 Florida serves the interests of the citizens of Florida 12 generally, and 13 WHEREAS, enhanced business activity within the State of 14 Florida results in the generation of greater revenues to the 15 state arising from sales within the state and the sales tax 16 revenues generated thereby, and 17 WHEREAS, the current system of sales and use taxation 18 of chambers of commerce has been fraught with lack of clarity 19 as to application of law and rule to chambers of commerce as 20 unique not-for-profit organizations, and 21 WHEREAS, the current system of sales and use taxation 22 rules has been subject to arbitrary, capricious, and 23 inconsistent interpretation, NOW, THEREFORE, 24 25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1. (1) As used in this section, "chamber of 28 commerce" means an organization whose operations and 29 membership are defined without regard to any specific industry 30 or industries, and which is qualified as a "chamber of 31 commerce" under s. 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 747 696-116-97 1 1986, as amended, and which is organized as a not-for-profit 2 corporation. 3 (2) No tax imposed by chapter 212, Florida Statutes, 4 on the following transactions, and not actually paid or 5 collected by a chamber of commerce before December 31, 1994, 6 shall be due from that chamber of commerce: 7 (a) Purchases by a chamber of commerce for use in its 8 operations to foster business intended to occur within the 9 state. 10 (b) Revenues of a chamber of commerce derived from 11 activities of the chamber of commerce that are intended to 12 foster business within the state for its members and the 13 general business community, including dues and fees to 14 members, the conduct of events for admission, charges to 15 businesses for participation in trade shows and similar 16 events, circulation of printed materials, including newspapers 17 and newsletters regardless of the quantity of advertising 18 content and regardless of the frequency of distribution, and 19 business seminars and events to assist businesses with their 20 operations, with compliance with laws, or with activities 21 within their communities. Any revenues derived by a chamber 22 of commerce from resales by the chamber of commerce of 23 materials routinely and directly available to any person 24 without the participation of the chamber of commerce, and 25 which would occur without participation, addition, or 26 modification in any material way by the chamber of commerce, 27 are not qualified as an exempt transaction of the chamber of 28 commerce under this section. 29 (3) Any chamber of commerce that has paid taxes that 30 have been imposed by this chapter and that would be exempted 31 from such taxes according to paragraph (2)(a) shall be 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 747 696-116-97 1 entitled to a refund of the taxes paid. The claim for this 2 refund must be filed on or before July 1, 1998. 3 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a 4 law. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 3