Senate Bill 1086

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.



    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086

    By Senator Sebesta





    6-895-99

  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:

18

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

20  Statutes, 1998 Supplement, 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

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  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, a $1,200, 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, 1998 Supplement, 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

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  1  the sales and use tax, as compensation for the keeping of

  2  prescribed records, filing timely tax returns, and the proper

  3  accounting and remitting of taxes by them, such seller,

  4  person, lessor, dealer, owner, and remitter (except dealers

  5  who make mail order sales) shall be allowed 2.5 percent of the

  6  amount of the tax due and accounted for and remitted to the

  7  department, in the form of a deduction in submitting his or

  8  her report and paying the amount due by him or her; the

  9  department shall allow such deduction of 2.5 percent of the

10  amount of the tax to the person paying the same for remitting

11  the tax and making of tax returns in the manner herein

12  provided, for paying the amount due to be paid by him or her,

13  and as further compensation to dealers in tangible personal

14  property for the keeping of prescribed records and for

15  collection of taxes and remitting the same. However, if the

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

17  reporting period exceeds $2,000, an $1,200, no allowance may

18  not shall be allowed for all amounts in excess of $2,000

19  $1,200. The executive director of the department is authorized

20  to negotiate a collection allowance, pursuant to rules

21  promulgated by the department, with a dealer who makes mail

22  order sales.  The rules of the department shall provide

23  guidelines for establishing the collection allowance based

24  upon the dealer's estimated costs of collecting the tax, the

25  volume and value of the dealer's mail order sales to

26  purchasers in this state, and the administrative and legal

27  costs and likelihood of achieving collection of the tax absent

28  the cooperation of the dealer. However, in no event shall the

29  collection allowance negotiated by the executive director

30  exceed 10 percent of the tax remitted for a reporting period.

31

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  1         (a)  The collection allowance may not be granted, nor

  2  may any deduction be permitted, if the required tax return or

  3  tax is delinquent at the time of payment.

  4         (b)  The Department of Revenue may deny the collection

  5  allowance if a taxpayer files an incomplete return.

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

  7  chapter, a return which is lacking such uniformity,

  8  completeness, and arrangement that the physical handling,

  9  verification, review of the return, or determination of other

10  taxes and fees reported on 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  reported, and enforced, including, but not limited to: the

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

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

18  deductions, or credits claimed; the amount claimed as the

19  dealer's collection allowance; the amount of penalty and

20  interest; the amount due with the return; and such other

21  information as the Department of Revenue may specify. The

22  department shall require that transient rentals and

23  agricultural equipment transactions be separately shown. Sales

24  made through vending machines as defined in s. 212.0515 must

25  be separately shown on the return. Sales made through

26  coin-operated amusement machines as defined by s. 212.02 and

27  the number of machines operated must be separately shown on

28  the return or on a form prescribed by the department. If a

29  separate form is required, the same penalties for late filing,

30  incomplete filing, or failure to file as provided for the

31  sales tax return shall apply to said form.

                                  4

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  1         (c)  The collection allowance and other credits or

  2  deductions provided in this chapter shall be applied

  3  proportionally to any taxes or fees reported on the same

  4  documents used for the sales and use tax.

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

  6  Statutes, as amended by section 7 of chapter 98-140, Laws of

  7  Florida, section 6 of chapter 98-142, Laws of Florida, and

  8  section 21 of chapter 98-200, Laws of Florida, is repealed.

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

10  212.20, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is repealed, and

11  subsection (1) of 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, 1998 Supplement, 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)(f)3. ss. 212.20(6)(g)3., 218.61, and 218.62.

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

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

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

                                  5

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  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)(f)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  212.20(f)5.c. s. 212.20(6)(g)5.c. shall be reduced to an

                                  6

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 1086
    6-895-99




  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, 2000.

  7

  8            *****************************************

  9                          SENATE SUMMARY

10    Increases the maximum amount of the tax on sales, use,
      and other transactions to which the dealer's credit
11    applies. Repeals provisions that impose an additional
      annual registration fee on dealers who have taxable sales
12    or purchases of $30,000 or more for the preceding
      calendar year and requires deposit of that fee in the
13    Solid Waste Management Trust Fund.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  7