| 1 | The Committee on Commerce recommends the following: |
| 2 |
|
| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to tax refunds for hiring a person who has |
| 7 | a disability; creating a tax refund program for hiring a |
| 8 | person who has a disability; providing definitions; |
| 9 | authorizing certain businesses to receive a refund of |
| 10 | certain eligible taxes; prescribing the amount of refunds; |
| 11 | providing criteria and limitations; authorizing additional |
| 12 | refunds for providing employee health insurance; |
| 13 | prescribing taxes that may be refunded; providing limits |
| 14 | on refunds; providing a criminal penalty for owners or |
| 15 | operators of businesses fraudulently claiming a refund; |
| 16 | providing for repayment of refunds plus penalties; |
| 17 | providing requirements, deadlines, and procedures relating |
| 18 | to claiming refunds; providing duties of the Division of |
| 19 | Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education |
| 20 | and the Department of Revenue; specifying that refunds are |
| 21 | subject to legislative appropriation; providing for |
| 22 | proration of refunds under certain circumstances; |
| 23 | providing duties of the Chief Financial Officer; providing |
| 24 | for review and approval of applications for refunds; |
| 25 | providing for interagency cooperation and sharing of |
| 26 | information; providing for agency rules; providing for |
| 27 | future repeal; providing an appropriation; providing an |
| 28 | effective date. |
| 29 |
|
| 30 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 31 |
|
| 32 | Section 1. Tax refund program for hiring a person who has |
| 33 | a disability.-- |
| 34 | (1) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section: |
| 35 | (a) "Business" means an employing unit, as defined in s. |
| 36 | 443.036, Florida Statutes, which is registered for unemployment |
| 37 | compensation purposes with the state agency providing |
| 38 | unemployment tax collection services under contract with the |
| 39 | Agency for Workforce Innovation through an interagency agreement |
| 40 | under s. 443.1316, Florida Statutes, or a subcategory or |
| 41 | division of an employing unit which is accepted by the state |
| 42 | agency providing unemployment tax collection services as a |
| 43 | reporting unit. |
| 44 | (b) "Division" means the Division of Vocational |
| 45 | Rehabilitation of the Department of Education. |
| 46 | (c) "Eligible employee" means a person who has a |
| 47 | disability and who: |
| 48 | 1. Was hired after July 1, 2004. |
| 49 | 2. Works at least 80 hours per month. |
| 50 | 3. Receives a salary that exceeds the federal minimum |
| 51 | wage. |
| 52 | (d) "Fiscal year" means the state fiscal year. |
| 53 | (e) "Person who has a disability" means the same as that |
| 54 | term is used in s. 413.20, Florida Statutes, and as further |
| 55 | prescribed in rules of the division implementing this section. |
| 56 | (f) "Qualified business" means a business that has been |
| 57 | approved by the division to receive a tax refund under this |
| 58 | section as provided in subsection (3). |
| 59 | (g) "Taxable year" means taxable year as defined in s. |
| 60 | 220.03(1), Florida Statutes. |
| 61 | (2) TAX REFUND; ELIGIBLE AMOUNTS.-- |
| 62 | (a) A business that hires a person who has a disability |
| 63 | may receive a refund of eligible taxes certified by the division |
| 64 | which were paid by the business. |
| 65 | (b) The refund shall be equal to 20 percent of the portion |
| 66 | of the actual monthly wages paid in this state to each eligible |
| 67 | employee which exceeds the federal minimum wage. The refund |
| 68 | under this paragraph, however, may not exceed $6,000 per |
| 69 | eligible employee per fiscal year. |
| 70 | (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), a business may receive |
| 71 | an additional refund equal to $70 per month for each eligible |
| 72 | employee who is covered by a health insurance plan offered by |
| 73 | the business. |
| 74 | (d) A business may claim a refund for any month during |
| 75 | which an eligible employee is employed by the business. An |
| 76 | eligible employee may serve as the basis for refunds for a |
| 77 | period not to exceed 2 calendar years. |
| 78 | (e) A business may claim refunds for no more than five |
| 79 | eligible employees. |
| 80 | (f) A business may: |
| 81 | 1. Receive refunds for the following taxes due and paid by |
| 82 | that business beginning with the first taxable year of the |
| 83 | business after hiring the eligible employee: |
| 84 | a. Corporate income taxes under chapter 220, Florida |
| 85 | Statutes. |
| 86 | b. Insurance premium tax under s. 624.509, Florida |
| 87 | Statutes. |
| 88 | 2. Receive refunds for the following taxes due and paid by |
| 89 | that business after hiring the eligible employee: |
| 90 | a. Taxes on sales, use, and other transactions under |
| 91 | chapter 212, Florida Statutes. |
| 92 | b. Intangible personal property taxes under chapter 199, |
| 93 | Florida Statutes. |
| 94 | c. Emergency excise taxes under chapter 221, Florida |
| 95 | Statutes. |
| 96 | d. Excise taxes on documents under chapter 201, Florida |
| 97 | Statutes. |
| 98 | e. Ad valorem taxes paid, as defined in s. 220.03(1), |
| 99 | Florida Statutes. |
| 100 | (g) However, a business may not receive a refund under |
| 101 | this section for any amount of credit, refund, or exemption |
| 102 | granted to that business for any of such taxes. If a refund for |
| 103 | such taxes is provided by the division, which taxes are |
| 104 | subsequently adjusted by the application of any credit, refund, |
| 105 | or exemption granted to the qualified business other than as |
| 106 | provided in this section, the business shall reimburse the |
| 107 | division for the amount of that credit, refund, or exemption. A |
| 108 | qualified business shall notify and tender payment to the |
| 109 | division within 20 days after receiving any credit, refund, or |
| 110 | exemption other than one provided in this section. Any payment |
| 111 | received by the division under this paragraph shall be deposited |
| 112 | into the General Revenue Fund. |
| 113 | (h) The owner or operator of any business that |
| 114 | fraudulently claims a refund under this section: |
| 115 | 1. Is liable for repayment of the amount of the refund, |
| 116 | plus a mandatory penalty in the amount of 200 percent of the tax |
| 117 | refund, which shall be deposited into the General Revenue Fund. |
| 118 | 2. Commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as |
| 119 | provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, Florida |
| 120 | Statutes. |
| 121 | (3) ANNUAL CLAIM FOR REFUND; APPROVAL.-- |
| 122 | (a) Beginning January 1, 2005, to be eligible to claim a |
| 123 | tax refund under this section, a business must apply by January |
| 124 | 1 to the division for the tax refund, to be paid from the |
| 125 | appropriation by the Legislature for the fiscal year that begins |
| 126 | on July 1 following the January 1 claims-submission date. |
| 127 | (b) The claim for a refund by the business must include: |
| 128 | 1. A copy of all receipts pertaining to the payment of |
| 129 | taxes for which the refund is sought. |
| 130 | 2. Documentation, in a form and manner prescribed by the |
| 131 | division, demonstrating that an eligible employee is the basis |
| 132 | for the refund. |
| 133 | 3. Documentation, if applicable, in a form and manner |
| 134 | prescribed by the division, demonstrating that the eligible |
| 135 | employee who is the basis for the refund is covered by the |
| 136 | health insurance plan of the business in a manner that satisfies |
| 137 | paragraph (2)(c). |
| 138 | (c) The division, with such assistance as may be required |
| 139 | from the Department of Revenue or the Agency for Workforce |
| 140 | Innovation, shall, by March 30 following the date for submission |
| 141 | of the tax refund claim, specify by written order the approval |
| 142 | or disapproval of the tax refund claim and, if approved, the |
| 143 | amount of the tax refund that is authorized to be paid to the |
| 144 | qualified business for the annual tax refund. The Department of |
| 145 | Revenue shall verify the payment of taxes for which the refund |
| 146 | is sought. |
| 147 | (d) This section does not create a presumption that a tax |
| 148 | refund claim will be approved and paid to a qualified business. |
| 149 | Refunds under this section are subject to appropriation by the |
| 150 | Legislature. |
| 151 | (e) If the Legislature does not appropriate an amount |
| 152 | sufficient to pay all refunds determined by the division to be |
| 153 | qualified for payment in a fiscal year, the division shall amend |
| 154 | the written orders under paragraph (c) relating to that fiscal |
| 155 | year and prorate refunds to qualified businesses for that fiscal |
| 156 | year. |
| 157 | (f) Upon approval of the claim for a tax refund, and upon |
| 158 | an appropriation by the Legislature for refunds under this |
| 159 | section, the Chief Financial Officer shall issue a warrant for |
| 160 | the amount specified in the written order or, if applicable, the |
| 161 | revised written order. If the written order or revised written |
| 162 | order is appealed, the Chief Financial Officer may not issue a |
| 163 | warrant for a refund to the qualified business until the |
| 164 | conclusion of all appeals of the order. |
| 165 | (4) ADMINISTRATION.-- |
| 166 | (a) The division may verify information provided in any |
| 167 | claim submitted for tax refunds under this section with regard |
| 168 | to employment and wage levels or the payment of the taxes to the |
| 169 | appropriate agency or authority, including the Department of |
| 170 | Revenue, the Agency for Workforce Innovation, or any local |
| 171 | government or authority. |
| 172 | (b) To facilitate the process of monitoring and auditing |
| 173 | applications made under this section, the division may provide a |
| 174 | list of businesses to the Department of Revenue, the Agency for |
| 175 | Workforce Innovation, or any local government or authority. The |
| 176 | office may request the assistance of those entities with respect |
| 177 | to monitoring jobs, wages, and the payment of the taxes listed |
| 178 | in subsection (2). |
| 179 | (c) Funds specifically appropriated for the tax refund |
| 180 | program under this section may not be used for any purpose other |
| 181 | than the payment of tax refunds authorized by this section. |
| 182 | (d) The division may adopt rules pursuant to ss. |
| 183 | 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to administer this |
| 184 | section. |
| 185 | (5) EXPIRATION.--This section is repealed June 30, 2010. |
| 186 | Section 2. The sum of $2,820,000 is appropriated from the |
| 187 | General Revenue Fund to the Department of Education for the |
| 188 | payment of refunds during fiscal year 2004-2005 under the tax |
| 189 | refund program for hiring a disabled person as created by this |
| 190 | act. |
| 191 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |