Florida Senate - 2009 SB 218 By Senator Ring 32-00279-09 2009218__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to employment for the homeless; 3 amending s. 220.02, F.S.; specifying the order for 4 applying the tax credit for employment of the 5 homeless; creating s. 220.194, F.S.; providing a tax 6 credit for a corporation that hires a homeless person 7 residing in a transitional housing facility; 8 specifying the information that must be provided to 9 the Department of Revenue when applying for the 10 credit; providing for the carryover of unused credits; 11 providing penalties for fraudulently claiming the tax 12 credit; limiting the total of amount of tax credits 13 that may be granted per taxable year; authorizing the 14 department to adopt rules; providing for the 15 expiration of the tax credit; requiring the department 16 to collect certain data; providing an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20 Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 220.02, Florida 21 Statutes, is amended to read: 22 220.02 Legislative intent.— 23 (8) It is the intent of the Legislature that credits 24 against either the corporate income tax or the franchise tax be 25 applied in the following order: those enumerated in s. 631.828, 26 those enumerated in s. 220.191, those enumerated in s. 220.181, 27 those enumerated in s. 220.183, those enumerated in s. 220.182, 28 those enumerated in s. 220.1895, those enumerated in s. 221.02, 29 those enumerated in s. 220.184, those enumerated in s. 220.186, 30 those enumerated in s. 220.1845, those enumerated in s. 220.19, 31 those enumerated in s. 220.185, those enumerated in s. 220.187, 32 those enumerated in s. 220.192,andthose enumerated in s. 33 220.193, and those enumerated under s. 220.194. 34 Section 2. Section 220.194, Florida Statutes, is created to 35 read: 36 220.194 Tax credit for employment of the homeless.— 37 (1) For taxable years beginning January 1, 2009, a tax 38 credit of $1,000 shall be allowed against any corporate income 39 tax due under this chapter to a corporation that hires a person 40 residing in a transitional housing facility at the time of 41 beginning employment and who remains continuously employed for 42 at least 6 months. The tax credit may be taken only once per new 43 employee. As used in this section, the term “transitional 44 housing facility” means a transitional housing facility under 45 part VI of chapter 420 which receives federal homeless 46 assistance funding distributed by the United States Department 47 of Housing and Urban Development. 48 (2) The corporation must provide the department with the 49 following information when applying for the credit: 50 (a) For each new employee for whom the credit is claimed: 51 1. The employee's name and current address or, if the 52 employee is no longer employed, the last known address of the 53 person while employed by the corporation; 54 2. The address of the transitional housing facility where 55 the employee was residing at the time of beginning employment, 56 and documentation from the transitional housing facility that 57 the employee qualified for and was residing at the facility at 58 the time of beginning employment; and 59 3. The salary or hourly wages paid to the new employee 60 during the taxable year. 61 (b) The total salary or hourly wages paid during the 62 taxable year to each employee who is still employed by the 63 corporation and for whom the tax credit was claimed in a prior 64 taxable year. 65 (3) If the credit is not fully used in any one year, the 66 unused amount may be carried forward for up to 5 years. The 67 carryover credit may be used in a subsequent year if the tax 68 imposed by this chapter exceeds the credit for that year after 69 applying any other credits and unused credit carryovers in the 70 order provided in s. 220.02(8). 71 (4) It is the responsibility of the taxpayer to 72 affirmatively demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department 73 that it meets the requirements of this section. 74 (5) Any person who fraudulently claims the credit is liable 75 for payment of the credit, plus a mandatory penalty in the 76 amount of 200 percent of the credit and interest at the rate 77 provided in s. 220.807, and commits a felony of the third 78 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 79 775.084. 80 (6) The total amount of tax credit which may be granted 81 under this section is $2 million. If the total for the tax 82 credit applications submitted for a given year exceeds $2 83 million, the amount of tax credit per applicant shall be granted 84 on a pro rata basis. Any unused portion of the tax credit 85 remaining after granting a pro rata share shall carry over as 86 provided in subsection (3). 87 (7) The department may adopt rules and forms to administer 88 this section. 89 (8) This section expires December 31, 2014, except for 90 subsections (2) and (7), which expire December 31, 2020. In 91 determining whether to reenact this section, the Legislature 92 shall consider whether the revenue generated from wages paid to 93 qualifying employees outweighs the cost to the state in terms of 94 the amount of taxes waived. The department shall collect and 95 maintain data relating to the total amount of wages paid to 96 employees for whom a tax credit has been claimed in order to 97 make such a determination. 98 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.