House Bill 0317e1

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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

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

  3         transactions; amending s. 212.031, F.S.;

  4         providing that the tax on the lease or rental

  5         of or license in real property does not apply

  6         when the property is a public or private street

  7         or right-of-way used by a utility or franchised

  8         cable television company for utility,

  9         television, or communication purposes;

10         providing a definition for the term "utility";

11         amending s. 212.05, F.S.; providing that the

12         sales tax on prepaid calling cards will be

13         assessed at the point of sale of the card;

14         providing an effective date.

15

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

17

18         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section

19  212.031, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to

20  read:

21         212.031  Lease or rental of or license in real

22  property.--

23         (1)(a)  It is declared to be the legislative intent

24  that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who

25  engages in the business of renting, leasing, letting, or

26  granting a license for the use of any real property unless

27  such property is:

28         1.  Assessed as agricultural property under s. 193.461.

29         2.  Used exclusively as dwelling units.

30         3.  Property subject to tax on parking, docking, or

31  storage spaces under s. 212.03(6).


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1         4.  Recreational property or the common elements of a

  2  condominium when subject to a lease between the developer or

  3  owner thereof and the condominium association in its own right

  4  or as agent for the owners of individual condominium units or

  5  the owners of individual condominium units. However, only the

  6  lease payments on such property shall be exempt from the tax

  7  imposed by this chapter, and any other use made by the owner

  8  or the condominium association shall be fully taxable under

  9  this chapter.

10         5.  A public or private street or right-of-way and

11  poles, conduits, fixtures, and similar improvements located on

12  such streets or rights-of-way, occupied or used by a utility

13  or franchised cable television company for utility or

14  communications or television purposes. For purposes of this

15  subparagraph, the term "utility" means any person providing

16  utility services as defined in s. 203.012. This exception also

17  applies to property, excluding buildings, wherever located, on

18  which antennas, cables, adjacent accessory structures, or

19  adjacent accessory equipment used in the provision of

20  cellular, enhanced specialized mobile radio, or personal

21  communications services are placed.

22         6.  A public street or road which is used for

23  transportation purposes.

24         7.  Property used at an airport exclusively for the

25  purpose of aircraft landing or aircraft taxiing or property

26  used by an airline for the purpose of loading or unloading

27  passengers or property onto or from aircraft or for fueling

28  aircraft.

29         8.a.  Property used at a port authority, as defined in

30  s. 315.02(2), exclusively for the purpose of oceangoing

31  vessels or tugs docking, or such vessels mooring on property


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1  used by a port authority for the purpose of loading or

  2  unloading passengers or cargo onto or from such a vessel, or

  3  property used at a port authority for fueling such vessels, or

  4  to the extent that the amount paid for the use of any property

  5  at the port is based on the charge for the amount of tonnage

  6  actually imported or exported through the port by a tenant.

  7         b.  The amount charged for the use of any property at

  8  the port in excess of the amount charged for tonnage actually

  9  imported or exported shall remain subject to tax except as

10  provided in sub-subparagraph a.

11         9.  Property used as an integral part of the

12  performance of qualified production services.  As used in this

13  subparagraph, the term "qualified production services" means

14  any activity or service performed directly in connection with

15  the production of a qualified motion picture, as defined in s.

16  212.06(1)(b), and includes:

17         a.  Photography, sound and recording, casting, location

18  managing and scouting, shooting, creation of special and

19  optical effects, animation, adaptation (language, media,

20  electronic, or otherwise), technological modifications,

21  computer graphics, set and stage support (such as

22  electricians, lighting designers and operators, greensmen,

23  prop managers and assistants, and grips), wardrobe (design,

24  preparation, and management), hair and makeup (design,

25  production, and application), performing (such as acting,

26  dancing, and playing), designing and executing stunts,

27  coaching, consulting, writing, scoring, composing,

28  choreographing, script supervising, directing, producing,

29  transmitting dailies, dubbing, mixing, editing, cutting,

30  looping, printing, processing, duplicating, storing, and

31  distributing;


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1         b.  The design, planning, engineering, construction,

  2  alteration, repair, and maintenance of real or personal

  3  property including stages, sets, props, models, paintings, and

  4  facilities principally required for the performance of those

  5  services listed in sub-subparagraph a.; and

  6         c.  Property management services directly related to

  7  property used in connection with the services described in

  8  sub-subparagraphs a. and b.

  9         10.  Leased, subleased, or rented to a person providing

10  food and drink concessionaire services within the premises of

11  a movie theater, a business operated under a permit issued

12  pursuant to chapter 550, or any publicly owned arena, sports

13  stadium, convention hall, exhibition hall, auditorium, or

14  recreational facility.  A person providing retail

15  concessionaire services involving the sale of food and drink

16  or other tangible personal property within the premises of an

17  airport shall be subject to tax on the rental of real property

18  used for that purpose, but shall not be subject to the tax on

19  any license to use the property.  For purposes of this

20  subparagraph, the term "sale" shall not include the leasing of

21  tangible personal property.

22         11.  Property occupied pursuant to an instrument

23  calling for payments which the department has declared, in a

24  Technical Assistance Advisement issued on or before March 15,

25  1993, to be nontaxable pursuant to rule 12A-1.070(19)(c),

26  Florida Administrative Code; provided that this subparagraph

27  shall only apply to property occupied by the same person

28  before and after the execution of the subject instrument and

29  only to those payments made pursuant to such instrument,

30  exclusive of renewals and extensions thereof occurring after

31  March 15, 1993.


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1         Section 2.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section

  2  212.05, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:

  3         212.05  Sales, storage, use tax.--It is hereby declared

  4  to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a

  5  taxable privilege who engages in the business of selling

  6  tangible personal property at retail in this state, including

  7  the business of making mail order sales, or who rents or

  8  furnishes any of the things or services taxable under this

  9  chapter, or who stores for use or consumption in this state

10  any item or article of tangible personal property as defined

11  herein and who leases or rents such property within the state.

12         (1)  For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is

13  levied on each taxable transaction or incident, which tax is

14  due and payable as follows:

15         (e)1.  At the rate of 6 percent on charges for:

16         a.  All telegraph messages and long-distance telephone

17  calls beginning and terminating in this state,

18  telecommunication service as defined in s. 203.012, and those

19  services described in s. 203.012(2)(a), except that the tax

20  rate for charges for telecommunication service is 7 percent.

21  The tax on calls made with a prepaid telephone calling card

22  shall be collected at the time of sale and remitted by the

23  dealer selling or recharging a prepaid telephone card.

24         (I)  A prepaid telephone card or authorization number

25  means the right to exclusively make telephone calls that must

26  be paid for in advance and that enable the origination of

27  calls using an access number, prepaid mobile account, or

28  authorization code, whether manually or electronically dialed.

29         (II)  If the sale or recharge of the prepaid telephone

30  calling card does not take place at the dealer's place of

31  business, it shall be deemed to take place at the customer's


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1  shipping address or, if no item is shipped, at the customer's

  2  address or the location associated with the customer's mobile

  3  telephone number.

  4         (III)  The prepaid phone card constitutes property in

  5  this state and subjects the selling dealer to the jurisdiction

  6  of this state for purposes of this subsection.

  7         b.  Any television system program service.

  8         c.  The installation of telecommunication and

  9  telegraphic equipment.

10         d.  Electrical power or energy, except that the tax

11  rate for charges for electrical power or energy is 7 percent.

12         2.  For purposes of this chapter, "television system

13  program service" means the transmitting, by any means, of any

14  audio or video signal to a subscriber for other than

15  retransmission, or the installing, connecting, reconnecting,

16  disconnecting, moving, or changing of any equipment related to

17  such service.  For purposes of this chapter, the term

18  "telecommunication service" does not include local service

19  provided through a pay telephone. The provisions of s.

20  212.17(3), regarding credit for tax paid on charges

21  subsequently found to be worthless, shall be equally

22  applicable to any tax paid under the provisions of this

23  section on charges for telecommunication or telegraph services

24  or electric power subsequently found to be uncollectible. The

25  word "charges" in this paragraph does not include any excise

26  or similar tax levied by the Federal Government, any political

27  subdivision of the state, or any municipality upon the

28  purchase or sale of telecommunication, television system

29  program, or telegraph service or electric power, which tax is

30  collected by the seller from the purchaser.

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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1         3.  Telegraph messages and telecommunication services

  2  which originate or terminate in this state, other than

  3  interstate private communication services, and are billed to a

  4  customer, telephone number, or device located within this

  5  state are taxable under this paragraph.  Interstate private

  6  communication services are taxable under this paragraph as

  7  follows:

  8         a.  One hundred percent of the charge imposed at each

  9  channel termination point within this state;

10         b.  One hundred percent of the charge imposed for the

11  total channel mileage between each channel termination point

12  within this state; and

13         c.  The portion of the interstate interoffice channel

14  mileage charge as determined by multiplying said charge times

15  a fraction, the numerator of which is the air miles between

16  the last channel termination point in this state and the

17  vertical and horizontal coordinates, 7856 and 1756,

18  respectively, and the denominator of which is the air miles

19  between the last channel termination point in this state and

20  the first channel termination point outside this state.  The

21  denominator of this fraction shall be adjusted, if necessary,

22  by adding the numerator of said fraction to similarly

23  determined air miles in the state in which the other channel

24  termination point is located, so that the summation of the

25  apportionment factor for this state and the apportionment

26  factor for the other state is not greater than one, to ensure

27  that no more than 100 percent of the interstate interoffice

28  channel mileage charge can be taxed by this state and another

29  state.

30         4.  The tax imposed pursuant to this paragraph shall

31  not exceed $50,000 per calendar year on charges to any person


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                                           HB 317, First Engrossed



  1  for interstate telecommunications services defined in s.

  2  203.012(4) and (7)(b), if the majority of such services used

  3  by such person are for communications originating outside of

  4  this state and terminating in this state.  This exemption

  5  shall only be granted to holders of a direct pay permit issued

  6  pursuant to this subparagraph.  No refunds shall be given for

  7  taxes paid prior to receiving a direct pay permit. Upon

  8  application, the department may issue a direct pay permit to

  9  the purchaser of telecommunications services authorizing such

10  purchaser to pay tax on such services directly to the

11  department. Any vendor furnishing telecommunications services

12  to the holder of a valid direct pay permit shall be relieved

13  of the obligation to collect and remit the tax on such

14  service. Tax payments and returns pursuant to a direct pay

15  permit shall be monthly. For purposes of this subparagraph,

16  the term "person" shall be limited to a single legal entity

17  and shall not be construed as meaning a group or combination

18  of affiliated entities or entities controlled by one person or

19  group of persons.

20         5.  If the sale of a television system program service,

21  as defined in this paragraph, also involves the sale of an

22  item exempt under s. 212.08(7)(j), the tax shall be applied to

23  the value of the taxable service when it is sold separately.

24  If the company does not offer this service separately, the

25  consideration paid shall be separately identified and stated

26  with respect to the taxable and exempt portions of the

27  transaction as a condition of the exemption, except that the

28  amount identified as taxable shall not be less than the cost

29  of the service.

30         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

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