Senate Bill 1868c1

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



    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1868

    By the Committee on Fiscal Resource and Senators Thomas,
    Bronson, Childers, Rossin, Saunders, Grant, Sebesta,
    Brown-Waite, Casas, Diaz-Balart, Cowin, Mitchell and Dawson



    314-2079-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

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

  3         transactions; amending s. 212.02, F.S.;

  4         defining "agricultural production"; amending s.

  5         212.08, F.S.; revising application of the

  6         partial exemption for self-propelled,

  7         power-drawn, or power-driven farm equipment

  8         used exclusively on a farm or in a forest in

  9         specified activities and including rental or

10         lease of such equipment in such exemption;

11         reducing the rate of tax on such equipment;

12         amending s. 212.12, F.S., relating to

13         promulgation of tax brackets by the Department

14         of Revenue, to conform; providing an effective

15         date.

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

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19         Section 1.  Subsection (34) is added to section 212.02,

20  Florida Statutes, to read:

21         212.02  Definitions.--The following terms and phrases

22  when used in this chapter have the meanings ascribed to them

23  in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a

24  different meaning:

25         (34)  "Agricultural production" means the production of

26  plants and animals useful to humans, including the

27  preparation, planting, cultivating, or harvesting of these

28  products or any other practices necessary to accomplish

29  production through the harvest phase, and includes

30  aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture,

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






    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1868
    314-2079-00




  1  forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bees, and any and all

  2  forms of farm products and farm production.

  3         Section 2.  Subsection (3) of section 212.08, Florida

  4  Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         212.08  Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution,

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

  7  the rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and

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

  9  following are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed

10  by this chapter.

11         (3)  EXEMPTIONS, PARTIAL; CERTAIN FARM

12  EQUIPMENT.--There shall be taxable at the rate of 2.5 3

13  percent the sale, rental, lease, use, consumption, or storage

14  for use in this state of self-propelled, power-drawn, or

15  power-driven farm equipment used exclusively on a farm or in a

16  forest in the agricultural production of plowing, planting,

17  cultivating, or harvesting crops or products as produced by

18  those agricultural industries included in s. 570.02(1), or for

19  fire prevention and suppression work with respect to such

20  crops or products. Harvesting may not be construed to include

21  processing activities. This exemption is not forfeited by

22  moving farm equipment between farms or forests. The rental of

23  self-propelled, power-drawn, or power-driven farm equipment

24  shall be taxed at the rate of 3 percent.

25         Section 3.  Subsection (11) of section 212.12, Florida

26  Statutes, is amended to read:

27         212.12  Dealer's credit for collecting tax; penalties

28  for noncompliance; powers of Department of Revenue in dealing

29  with delinquents; brackets applicable to taxable transactions;

30  records required.--

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






    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1868
    314-2079-00




  1         (11)  The department is authorized to provide by rule

  2  the tax amounts and brackets applicable to all taxable

  3  transactions that occur in counties that have a surtax at a

  4  rate other than 1 percent which transactions would otherwise

  5  have been transactions taxable at the rate of 6 percent.

  6  Likewise, the department is authorized to promulgate by rule

  7  the tax amounts and brackets applicable to transactions

  8  taxable at 2.5 3 percent pursuant to s. 212.08(3),

  9  transactions taxable at 7 percent pursuant to s. 212.05(1)(e),

10  and on transactions which would otherwise have been so taxable

11  in counties which have adopted a discretionary sales surtax.

12         Section 4.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.

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14          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
15                             SB 1868

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17  The Committee Substitutes eliminates the phase-out of the
    partial exemption for equipment used in agricultural
18  production and replaces it with a reduction in the rate from
    3% to 2.5%, effective January 1, 2001.
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