| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the tax on sales, use, and other |
| 3 | transactions; amending s. 212.08, F.S.; exempting certain |
| 4 | aircraft, related construction, maintenance, repair, and |
| 5 | overhaul parts and labor, and fractional aircraft |
| 6 | ownership interests; providing a definition; amending s. |
| 7 | 212.0801, F.S.; applying certain university flight |
| 8 | training and research program participation requirements |
| 9 | to exemptions for fractional aircraft ownership programs; |
| 10 | providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Florida has identified aviation and aerospace as a |
| 13 | targeted industry for economic development purposes, and |
| 14 | WHEREAS, Florida has determined that the synergy in the |
| 15 | space, aerospace, and aviation industry attracts the world's |
| 16 | leading businesses to this state, and |
| 17 | WHEREAS, Florida employs approximately 80,000 people in the |
| 18 | aviation and aerospace industry at an average annual wage of |
| 19 | approximately $52,000, and |
| 20 | WHEREAS, Florida has the third largest aviation |
| 21 | maintenance, repair, and overhaul cluster in the United States |
| 22 | and has focused strategies for expanding these aviation support |
| 23 | services, and |
| 24 | WHEREAS, Florida intends to remain competitive with other |
| 25 | states as additional innovative commercial air transportation |
| 26 | products are developed, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 27 |
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| 28 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 29 |
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| 30 | Section 1. Subsection (19) is added to section 212.08, |
| 31 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 32 | 212.08 Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution, and |
| 33 | storage tax; specified exemptions.--The sale at retail, the |
| 34 | rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the |
| 35 | storage to be used or consumed in this state of the following |
| 36 | are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed by this |
| 37 | chapter. |
| 38 | (19) EXEMPTIONS; FRACTIONAL AIRCRAFT OWNERSHIP.-- |
| 39 | (a) Also exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter is |
| 40 | the sale or use of: |
| 41 | 1. Aircraft for primary use in a fractional aircraft |
| 42 | ownership program. |
| 43 | 2. Any parts or labor used in the completion, maintenance, |
| 44 | repair, or overhaul of aircraft for primary use in a fractional |
| 45 | aircraft ownership program. |
| 46 | 3. A fractional ownership interest in aircraft pursuant to |
| 47 | a fractional aircraft ownership program, including amounts paid |
| 48 | by the fractional owner as monthly management or maintenance |
| 49 | fees. |
| 50 | (b) For purposes of this subsection, the term "fractional |
| 51 | aircraft ownership program" means a program that: |
| 52 | 1. Is provided by a business or affiliated group that has |
| 53 | at least 25 turbojet or turboprop aircraft, regardless of the |
| 54 | maximum certified takeoff weight of the aircraft. |
| 55 | 2. Provides significant management services. |
| 56 | 3. Requires one or more fractional owners per aircraft, |
| 57 | with at least one aircraft having more than one owner, each |
| 58 | owner having at least a one-sixteenth interest. |
| 59 | 4. Has dry-lease intercharge arrangements in effect among |
| 60 | all the owners. |
| 61 | 5. Has multiyear program arrangements in effect as to all |
| 62 | of the components of the program described in subparagraphs 1.- |
| 63 | 4. |
| 64 | Section 2. Section 212.0801, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 65 | to read: |
| 66 | 212.0801 Qualified aircraft exemption; fractional aircraft |
| 67 | ownership program exemption.--To be eligible to receive an |
| 68 | exemption under s. 212.08(7) or (19) for a qualified aircraft, a |
| 69 | purchaser or lessee must offer, in writing, to participate in a |
| 70 | flight training and research program with two or more |
| 71 | universities based in this state which offer graduate programs |
| 72 | in aeronautical or aerospace engineering and offer flight |
| 73 | training through a school of aeronautics or college of aviation. |
| 74 | The purchaser or lessee shall forward a copy of the written |
| 75 | offer to the Department of Revenue. No exemption provided in |
| 76 | this chapter for the lease, purchase, repair, or maintenance of |
| 77 | an a qualified aircraft shall be allowed unless the purchaser or |
| 78 | lessee furnishes the dealer with a certificate stating that the |
| 79 | lease, purchase, repair, or maintenance to be exempted is for |
| 80 | the exclusive use of the purchaser or lessee of an a qualified |
| 81 | aircraft and that the purchaser or lessee otherwise qualifies |
| 82 | for the exemption as provided in this section. If a purchaser or |
| 83 | lessee makes tax-exempt purchases of qualified aircraft or |
| 84 | leases an a qualified aircraft on a continual basis, the |
| 85 | purchaser or lessee may tender the certificate once and allow |
| 86 | the dealer to keep a certificate on file. The purchaser or |
| 87 | lessee shall inform the dealer that has a certificate on file |
| 88 | when the purchaser or lessee no longer qualifies for the |
| 89 | exemption. The department shall determine the format of the |
| 90 | certificate. This section applies only to qualified aircraft and |
| 91 | aircraft, parts and labor for aircraft repair and maintenance, |
| 92 | and ownership interests in aircraft used primarily in a |
| 93 | fractional aircraft ownership program. |
| 94 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |