Senate Bill sb2998
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
By Senator Geller
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Joint Legislative Sales
3 and Use Tax Exemption Review Committee;
4 creating s. 11.95, F.S.; creating the Joint
5 Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption Review
6 Committee for the purpose of reviewing
7 exemptions from the general state sales and use
8 tax; providing for appointments to and
9 organization of the committee; specifying
10 duties and procedures with respect to such
11 review; providing for open meetings; providing
12 for reports; requiring continuing periodic
13 review of sales and use tax exemptions;
14 providing a period of exemption from review for
15 newly enacted exemptions; providing
16 applicability to other legislation proposing to
17 modify, repeal, or enact an exemption;
18 providing an effective date.
19
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22 Section 1. Section 11.95, Florida Statutes, is created
23 to read:
24 11.95 Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption
25 Review Committee.--
26 (1) The Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption
27 Review Committee is created to conduct comprehensive, periodic
28 reviews of all exemptions from the general state sales and use
29 tax. The committee shall consist of nine senators appointed by
30 the President of the Senate and nine representatives appointed
31 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The terms of
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 the members of the initial committee for each review cycle
2 shall commence upon appointment and shall run to the general
3 election preceding the organization of the next Legislature.
4 The terms of the members of subsequent committees for each
5 review cycle shall be for 2 years and shall run from the
6 organization of one Legislature to the general election
7 preceding the organization of the next Legislature. A vacancy
8 shall be filled in the same manner as the original
9 appointment. During even-numbered years, the chair of the
10 committee shall be appointed by the President of the Senate,
11 and the vice chair of the committee shall be appointed by the
12 Speaker of the House of Representatives. During odd-numbered
13 years, the chair of the committee shall be appointed by the
14 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the vice chair of
15 the committee shall be appointed by the President of the
16 Senate.
17 (2) The committee for each review cycle shall have its
18 initial meeting no later than December 1 of the year of its
19 first regular session and thereafter as necessary at the call
20 of the chair at the time and place designated by the chair. A
21 quorum shall consist of a majority of the committee members
22 from each house. During the interim between regular sessions,
23 the committee may conduct its meetings through teleconferences
24 or other similar means. All meetings of the committee shall be
25 open and noticed to the public and subject to order and
26 decorum in accordance with s. 4(e), Art. III of the State
27 Constitution.
28 (3) The committee shall be governed by joint rules
29 adopted by the Legislature pursuant to authority to adopt
30 rules under s. 4, Art. III of the State Constitution.
31 (4) For purposes of this section, the term:
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 (a) "General state sales and use tax" means the sales
2 and use tax imposed under chapter 212.
3 (b) "Exemption" means a provision in chapter 212 which
4 relieves from taxation a sale, use, or other transaction that
5 would, but for such provision, be subject to tax under chapter
6 212. A transaction that is beyond the reach of chapter 212 by
7 reason of definitional or other exclusions shall not be deemed
8 the subject of an exemption for purposes of this section.
9 Included among the transactions excluded from taxation under
10 chapter 212 and therefore not the subject of an exemption to
11 be reviewed by the committee under this section are the
12 following:
13 1. Sales that are not retail sales pursuant to s.
14 212.02(14).
15 2. Export sales under s. 212.06(5)(a).
16 3. Sales for resale under s. 212.07.
17 4. Occasional and isolated sales.
18 5. The sale or use of intangible property.
19 6. The sale of real property.
20 7. The sale or use of services, excepting only those
21 services enumerated as taxable in chapter 212.
22 (5) The committee shall have the power and duty to
23 conduct a comprehensive review of all current exemptions from
24 the general state sales and use tax. The committee shall
25 establish criteria by which each exemption shall be evaluated.
26 In developing the evaluation criteria, the committee shall
27 consider the following principles of taxation:
28 (a) Equity.--The Florida tax system should treat
29 individuals equitably. It should impose similar tax burdens on
30 people in similar circumstances and should minimize
31 regressivity.
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 (b) Compliance.--The Florida tax system should
2 facilitate taxpayer compliance. It should be simple and easy
3 to understand so as to minimize compliance costs and increase
4 the visibility and awareness of the taxes being paid.
5 Enforcement and collection of tax revenues should be done in a
6 fair, consistent, professional, predictable, and
7 cost-effective manner.
8 (c) Pro-competitiveness.--The Florida tax system
9 should be responsive to interstate and international
10 competition in order to encourage savings and investment in
11 plants, equipment, people, and technology in Florida.
12 (d) Neutrality.--The Florida tax system should affect
13 competitors uniformly and not become a tool for "social
14 engineering." It should minimize government involvement in
15 investment decisions, making any such involvement explicit,
16 and should minimize pyramiding.
17 (e) Stability.--The Florida tax system should produce
18 revenues in a stable and reliable manner that is sufficient to
19 fund appropriate governmental functions and expenditures.
20 (f) Integration.--The Florida tax system should
21 balance the need for integration of federal, state, and local
22 taxation.
23 (g) Public purpose.--Any sales and use tax exemption
24 under the Florida tax system should be based upon a
25 determination that the exemption promotes an important state
26 interest, including, but not limited to, economic development,
27 job creation and retention, economic diversification, and
28 community revitalization.
29 (6) In conducting its review of each exemption from
30 the general state sales and use tax, the committee shall make
31 findings of fact and recommend whether the exemption should be
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 retained, modified, or repealed. Each recommendation must be
2 made by majority vote of the committee members. If a majority
3 vote of the committee members cannot be achieved, the
4 committee must recommend that the exemption be retained. The
5 findings of fact and recommendations of the committee shall be
6 made by reports to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
7 of the House of Representatives.
8 (7) The committee may use its discretion in
9 determining the order in which it reviews the exemptions;
10 however, the committee should review approximately one-third
11 of the exemptions each year of a 3-year review period. No
12 exemption shall be reviewed more than once during any 3-year
13 review period. For the initial 3-year review, the committee
14 shall submit, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
15 of the House of Representatives, its reports not later than 30
16 days prior to each regular session in the years 2005, 2006,
17 and 2007. The committee shall begin a new 3-year review cycle
18 of all exemptions from the general state sales and use tax
19 every 10 years following the termination of the previous
20 review cycle. For each subsequent 3-year review, the committee
21 shall submit its reports not later than 30 days prior to the
22 regular session of each year of that review period, beginning
23 with the 10th year after the year of the final report for the
24 previous review.
25 (8) At the regular session following submission of
26 each annual report to the presiding officers of the
27 Legislature, the committee must file for introduction in both
28 houses of the Legislature bills presenting for modification or
29 repeal those exemptions from the general state sales and use
30 tax which were recommended by the committee for modification
31 or repeal in the report submitted immediately prior to the
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2998
31-1832A-04 See HB 171
1 session in which introduced. Each bill filed by the committee
2 must be restricted to a single exemption and must be submitted
3 to a vote of the members of the house of the Legislature in
4 which introduced no later than the eighth week of the session
5 in which introduced, unless the substance of the bill has
6 already been voted on by the members of the other house of the
7 Legislature in another bill during that session and defeated.
8 As used in this subsection, a "single exemption" means an
9 exemption that describes a single transaction or an exemption
10 set forth in a section, subsection, or paragraph of chapter
11 212, whichever describes the fewest number of transactions. In
12 addition, each bill filed by the committee which receives a
13 majority vote in the house of the Legislature in which
14 introduced must be submitted to a vote of the members of the
15 other house of the Legislature during that session, unless the
16 substance of the bill has already been voted on by the members
17 of the other house of the Legislature in another bill during
18 that session and defeated. In no event shall the repeal of an
19 exemption take effect sooner than 180 days following its
20 passage by the Legislature.
21 (9) Any new exemption from taxation under chapter 212
22 is exempt from review under this section for 6 years after it
23 takes effect.
24 (10) Nothing contained in this section shall preclude,
25 or be construed to limit, a legislator from filing for any
26 legislative session a bill proposing to modify, repeal, or
27 enact any exemption from the general state sales and use tax
28 or the imposition of such taxation on the sales of any
29 service.
30 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
31 law.
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