House Bill hb1063

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1063

        By Representative Needelman






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the additional homestead

  3         exemption for persons 65 and older; amending s.

  4         196.075, F.S., which allows counties and

  5         municipalities to grant such exemption;

  6         providing requirements with respect to the

  7         taxpayer's statement of household income and

  8         supporting documents; revising the submission

  9         date for such documents; authorizing random

10         audits of such statements; providing

11         requirements with respect to release of tax

12         information to the property appraiser;

13         providing an effective date.

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

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17         Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 196.075, Florida

18  Statutes, is amended to read:

19         196.075  Additional homestead exemption for persons 65

20  and older.--

21         (5)  The department must require by rule that the

22  filing of the statement be supported by copies of any federal

23  income tax returns for the prior year, any wage and earnings

24  statements (W-2 forms), any request for an extension of time

25  to file returns, and any other documents it finds necessary,

26  for each member of the household, to be submitted by April 15

27  for inspection by the property appraiser June 1. The

28  taxpayer's sworn statement shall attest to the accuracy of the

29  documents and grant permission to allow review of the

30  documents if requested by the property appraiser. Once the

31  documents have been inspected by the property appraiser, they

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1063

    785-108-01






  1  shall be returned to the taxpayer or otherwise destroyed. The

  2  property appraiser is authorized to generate random audits of

  3  the taxpayers' sworn statements to ensure the accuracy of the

  4  household income reported. If so selected for audit, a

  5  taxpayer shall execute Internal Revenue Service Form 8821 or

  6  4506, which authorizes the Internal Revenue Service to release

  7  tax information to the property appraiser's office. All

  8  reviews conducted in accordance with this section shall be

  9  completed on or before June 1 such copies. The property

10  appraiser may not grant or renew the exemption if without the

11  required documentation requested is not provided.

12         Section 2.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2002.

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15                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Provides requirements with respect to the taxpayer's
17    statement of household income and supporting documents
      required in connection with the additional homestead
18    exemption for persons 65 and older which counties and
      municipalities may grant. Revises the submission date for
19    such documents. Authorizes random audits of such
      statements and provides requirements with respect to
20    release of tax information to the property appraiser.

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