Senate Bill sb0982c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 982
By the Committee on Commerce; and Senator Haridopolos
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to sales and use tax credits or
3 refunds; amending s. 212.17, F.S.; authorizing
4 dealers to take certain credits or obtain
5 refund of taxes paid for worthless private
6 label credit card accounts; specifying
7 conditions; providing for remittances of taxes
8 collected on such accounts; providing
9 definitions; requiring dealers and lenders to
10 file a joint election to receive the credit or
11 refund; providing recordkeeping requirements;
12 authorizing the Department of Revenue to adopt
13 rules; specifying nonapplication to certain
14 claims for credits or refunds; providing an
15 effective date.
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17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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19 Section 1. Section 212.17, Florida Statutes, is
20 amended to read:
21 212.17 Credits for returned goods, rentals, or
22 admissions; goods acquired for dealer's own use and
23 subsequently resold; worthless private label credit card
24 accounts; additional powers of department.--
25 (1)(a) In the event purchases are returned to a dealer
26 by the purchaser or consumer after the tax imposed by this
27 chapter has been collected from or charged to the account of
28 the consumer or user, the dealer shall be entitled to
29 reimbursement of the amount of tax collected or charged by the
30 dealer, in the manner prescribed by the department.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 982
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1 (b) A registered dealer that purchases property for
2 the dealer's own use, pays tax on acquisition, and sells the
3 property subsequent to acquisition without ever having used
4 the property is entitled to reimbursement, in the manner
5 prescribed by the department, of the amount of tax paid on the
6 property's acquisition.
7 (c) If the tax has not been remitted by a dealer to
8 the department, the dealer may deduct the same in submitting
9 his or her return upon receipt of a signed statement of the
10 dealer as to the gross amount of such refunds during the
11 period covered by said signed statement, which period shall
12 not be longer than 90 days. The department shall issue to the
13 dealer an official credit memorandum equal to the net amount
14 remitted by the dealer for such tax collected or paid. Such
15 memorandum shall be accepted by the department at full face
16 value from the dealer to whom it is issued, in the remittance
17 for subsequent taxes accrued under the provisions of this
18 chapter. If a dealer has retired from business and has filed a
19 final return, a refund of tax may be made if it can be
20 established to the satisfaction of the department that the tax
21 was not due.
22 (2) A dealer who has paid the tax imposed by this
23 chapter on tangible personal property sold under a retained
24 title, conditional sale, or similar contract, or under a
25 contract wherein the dealer retains a security interest in the
26 property pursuant to chapter 679, may take credit or obtain a
27 refund for the tax paid by the dealer on the unpaid balance
28 due him or her when he or she repossesses (with or without
29 judicial process) the property within 12 months following the
30 month in which the property was repossessed. When such
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 982
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1 repossessed property is resold, the sale is subject in all
2 respects to the tax imposed by this chapter.
3 (3) A dealer who has paid the tax imposed by this
4 chapter on tangible personal property or services may take a
5 credit or obtain a refund for any tax paid by the dealer on
6 the unpaid balance due on worthless accounts within 12 months
7 following the month in which the bad debt has been charged off
8 for federal income tax purposes. If any accounts so charged
9 off for which a credit or refund has been obtained are
10 thereafter in whole or in part paid to the dealer, the amount
11 so paid shall be included in the first return filed after such
12 collection and the tax paid accordingly.
13 (4)(a) The department shall design, prepare, print and
14 furnish to all dealers, except dealers filing through
15 electronic data interchange, or make available or prescribe to
16 the dealers, all necessary forms for filing returns and
17 instructions to ensure a full collection from dealers and an
18 accounting for the taxes due, but failure of any dealer to
19 secure such forms does not relieve the dealer from the payment
20 of the tax at the time and in the manner provided.
21 (b) The department shall prescribe the format and
22 instructions necessary for filing returns in a manner that is
23 initiated through an electronic data interchange to ensure a
24 full collection from dealers and an accounting for the taxes
25 due. The failure of any dealer to use such format does not
26 relieve the dealer from the payment of the tax at the time and
27 in the manner provided.
28 (5) The department and its assistants are hereby
29 authorized and empowered to administer the oath for the
30 purpose of enforcing and administering the provisions of this
31 chapter.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 982
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1 (6) The department has authority to adopt rules
2 pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to enforce the
3 provisions of this chapter.
4 (7) The department, where admissions, license fees, or
5 rental payments or payments for services are made and
6 thereafter returned to the payors after the taxes thereon have
7 been paid, shall return or credit the taxpayer for taxes so
8 paid on the moneys returned in the same manner as is provided
9 for returns or credits of taxes where purchases or tangible
10 personal property are returnable to a dealer.
11 (8)(a) In the case of private label credit card
12 accounts found to be worthless and deductible as bad debts for
13 federal income tax purposes, a dealer or lender may take a
14 credit or obtain a refund of the taxes previously paid by the
15 dealer under this chapter on the unpaid balance due on the
16 worthless accounts if a proper election is made under
17 paragraph (e) by the dealer and lender and the following
18 conditions are met:
19 1. No credit or refund was previously claimed or
20 allowed on any portion of the account.
21 2. The accounts have been found worthless and are
22 deductible as bad debts for federal income tax purposes by the
23 lender or any entity affiliated with the lender under 26
24 U.S.C. s. 1504.
25 3. The accounts are found to be worthless on or after
26 July 1, 2007, and the credit or refund is claimed not later
27 than 12 months following the date on which the accounts are
28 charged off for federal income tax purposes.
29 (b) If a dealer or lender thereafter collects in whole
30 or in part any account for which a credit or refund has been
31 obtained under this subsection, the dealer or the lender shall
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1 include the amount collected and account for tax on that
2 amount in the earlier of the dealer's or lender's first return
3 or refund claim filed after the collection or a statement
4 filed with the department by the 20th day of the month
5 following the month in which the amount was collected.
6 (c) For purposes of this subsection, the term "lender"
7 means any of the following:
8 1. Any person who owns or has owned a private label
9 credit card account that the person purchased directly from a
10 dealer who remitted the tax imposed under this chapter;
11 2. Any person who owns or has owned a private label
12 credit card account pursuant to that person's contract
13 directly with the dealer who remitted the tax imposed under
14 this chapter; or
15 3. Any person who is an affiliated entity, under 26
16 U.S.C. s. 1504, of a person described in subparagraph 1. or
17 subparagraph 2. or an assignee or other transferee of a person
18 described in subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2.
19 (d) For purposes of this subsection, the term "private
20 label credit card" means any charge card or credit card that
21 carries, refers to, or is branded with the name or logo of a
22 dealer and can be used for purchases from the dealer whose
23 name or logo appears on the card or for purchases from any of
24 the dealer's affiliates. For purposes of this paragraph, the
25 term "dealer's affiliates" means all entities affiliated with
26 the dealer under 26 U.S.C. s. 1504. In the case of a private
27 label credit card that also may be used to make purchases from
28 persons other than the dealer whose name or logo appears on
29 the card or the dealer's affiliates, the sales receipts of the
30 dealer and the dealer's affiliates must be capable of
31 identification apart from any receipts reflecting sales by
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1 such unrelated persons. Nothing in this subsection authorizes
2 any credit or refund with respect to sales by such unrelated
3 persons.
4 (e) Before a dealer or lender may take a credit or
5 obtain a refund under this subsection, the lender and the
6 dealer shall file a joint election with the department, signed
7 by the dealer and lender, designating whether the dealer or
8 lender is entitled to claim the credit or refund. This
9 election may not be revoked unless a written notice, signed by
10 the dealer and lender who signed the election being revoked,
11 is filed with the department.
12 (f) The dealer or lender shall maintain adequate
13 books, records, or other documentation supporting the
14 deduction taken for the bad debts found to be worthless for
15 which a credit was taken or a refund was claimed under this
16 subsection. If a dealer remits sales tax or use tax to this
17 state and one or more other states, the dealer or its lender
18 claiming any credits or refunds under this subsection may use
19 an apportionment method to substantiate the amount of tax
20 imposed under this chapter included in the bad debts to which
21 the credit or refund applies. The apportionment method must
22 use the dealer's Florida and non-Florida sales, the dealer's
23 taxable and nontaxable sales, and the amount of tax the dealer
24 remitted to this state. Alternatively, the dealer or lender
25 may treat a specified percentage of the private label credit
26 card accounts as giving rise to a credit or refund under this
27 subsection, which percentage is derived from a sampling of the
28 dealer's or lender's records in accordance with a methodology
29 agreed upon by the department and the dealer or lender.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 982
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1 (g) A lender as defined in paragraph (c) may have its
2 credit for bad debts claimed on a consolidated sales and use
3 tax return.
4 (h) The department may adopt rules pursuant to ss.
5 120.536(1) and 120.54 governing the implementation of this
6 subsection.
7 (i) This subsection shall not apply to any credit or
8 refund claim presented under subsection (2) or subsection (3),
9 any assessment or refund denial pertaining to a credit or
10 refund claim made under subsection (2) or subsection (3), or
11 any audit or administrative or judicial proceeding relating to
12 such credit or refund claims pending as of July 1, 2007.
13 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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15 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
16 Senate Bill 982
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18 The Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 982 differs from the
bill as filed in the following ways:
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- A dealer or lender may claim a sales tax refund or sales
20 tax credit no later than 12 months from the date a
worthless account was written off for federal income tax
21 purposes, rather than 12 months from the filing date of
the federal income tax return on which the charge-off was
22 taken.
23 - For clarity, an early reference to the process by which a
dealer or lender elects to take the tax credit or tax
24 refund is cross-referenced to a description of the
process later in the bill.
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