Florida Senate - 2009 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 728
Barcode 345254
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: FAV .
02/18/2009 .
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The Committee on Judiciary (Baker) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 9 - 35
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Section 201.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to
6 read:
7 201.02 Tax on deeds and other instruments relating to real
8 property or interests in real property.—
9 (1) On deeds, instruments, or writings whereby any lands,
10 tenements, or other real property, or any interest therein,
11 shall be granted, assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed
12 to, or vested in, the purchaser or any other person by his or
13 her direction, on each $100 of the consideration therefor the
14 tax shall be 70 cents. When the full amount of the consideration
15 for the execution, assignment, transfer, or conveyance is not
16 shown in the face of such deed, instrument, document, or
17 writing, the tax shall be at the rate of 70 cents for each $100
18 or fractional part thereof of the consideration therefor. For
19 purposes of this section, consideration includes, but is not
20 limited to, the money paid or agreed to be paid; the discharge
21 of an obligation; and the amount of any mortgage, purchase money
22 mortgage lien, or other encumbrance, whether or not the
23 underlying indebtedness is assumed. If the consideration paid or
24 given in exchange for real property or any interest therein
25 includes property other than money, it is presumed that the
26 consideration is equal to the fair market value of the real
27 property or interest therein.
28 (2) The tax imposed by subsection (1) shall also be payable
29 upon documents by which the right is granted to a tenant
30 stockholder to occupy an apartment in a building owned by a
31 cooperative apartment corporation or in a dwelling on real
32 property owned by any other form of cooperative association as
33 defined in s. 719.103.
34 (3) The tax imposed by subsection (2) shall be paid by the
35 purchaser, and the document recorded in the office of the clerk
36 of the circuit court as evidence of ownership.
37 (4) The tax imposed by subsection (1) shall also be payable
38 upon documents which convey or transfer, pursuant to s. 689.071,
39 any beneficial interest in lands, tenements, or other real
40 property, or any interest therein, even though such interest may
41 be designated as personal property, notwithstanding the
42 provisions of s. 689.071(6). The tax shall be paid upon
43 execution of any such document.
44 (5) All conveyances of real property to a partner from a
45 partnership which property was conveyed to the partnership after
46 July 1, 1986, are taxable if:
47 (a) The partner receiving the real property from the
48 partnership is a partner other than the partner who conveyed the
49 real property to the partnership; or
50 (b) The partner receiving the real property from the
51 partnership is the partner who conveyed the real property to the
52 partnership and there is a mortgage debt or other debt secured
53 by such real property for which the partner was not personally
54 liable prior to conveying the real property to the partnership.
55 For purposes of this subsection, the value of the consideration
56 paid for the conveyance of the real property to the partner from
57 the partnership includes, but is not limited to, the amount of
58 any outstanding mortgage debt or other debt which the partner
59 pays or agrees to pay in exchange for the real property,
60 regardless of whether the partner was personally liable for the
61 debts of the partnership prior to the conveyance to the partner
62 from the partnership.
63 (6) Taxes imposed by this section shall not apply to any
64 assignment, transfer, or other disposition, or any document,
65 which arises out of a transfer of real property from a nonprofit
66 organization to the Board of Trustees of the Internal
67 Improvement Trust Fund, to any state agency, to any water
68 management district, or to any local government. For purposes of
69 this subsection, “nonprofit organization” means an organization
70 whose purpose is the preservation of natural resources and which
71 is exempt from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the
72 Internal Revenue Code. The Department of Revenue shall provide a
73 form, or a place on an existing form, for the nonprofit
74 organization to indicate its exempt status.
75 (7) Taxes imposed by this section do not apply to a deed,
76 transfer, or conveyance between spouses or former spouses
77 pursuant to an action for dissolution of their marriage wherein
78 the real property is or was their marital home or an interest
79 therein. Taxes paid pursuant to this section shall be refunded
80 in those cases in which a deed, transfer, or conveyance occurred
81 1 year before a dissolution of marriage. This subsection applies
82 in spite of any consideration as defined in subsection (1). This
83 subsection does not apply to a deed, transfer, or conveyance
84 executed before July 1, 1997.
85 (8) Taxes imposed by this section do not apply to a
86 contract to sell the residence of an employee relocating at his
87 or her employer's direction or to documents related to the
88 contract, which contract is between the employee and the
89 employer or between the employee and a person in the business of
90 providing employee relocation services. In the case of such
91 transactions, taxes apply only to the transfer of the real
92 property comprising the residence by deed that vests legal title
93 in a named grantee.
94 (9) A certificate of title issued by the clerk of court
95 under s. 45.031(5) in a judicial sale of real property under an
96 order or final judgment issued pursuant to a foreclosure
97 proceeding is subject to the tax imposed by subsection (1).
98 However, the amount of the tax shall be computed based solely on
99 the amount of the highest and best bid received for the property
100 at the foreclosure sale. This subsection is intended to clarify
101 existing law and shall be applied retroactively.
102 (10)(a) In recognition of the special escrow requirements
103 that apply to sales of timeshare interests in timeshare plans
104 pursuant to s. 721.08, tax on deeds or other instruments
105 conveying any interest in Florida real property which are
106 executed in conjunction with the sale by a developer of a
107 timeshare interest in a timeshare plan is due and payable on the
108 earlier of the date on which:
109 1. The deed or other instrument conveying the interest in
110 Florida real property is recorded; or
111 2. All of the conditions precedent to the release of the
112 purchaser's escrowed funds or other property pursuant to s.
113 721.08(2)(c) have been met, regardless of whether the developer
114 has posted an alternative assurance. Tax due pursuant to this
115 subparagraph is due and payable on or before the 20th day of the
116 month following the month in which these conditions were met.
117 (b)1. If tax has been paid to the department pursuant to
118 subparagraph (a)2., and the deed or other instrument conveying
119 the interest in Florida real property with respect to which the
120 tax was paid is subsequently recorded, a notation reflecting the
121 prior payment of the tax must be made upon the deed or other
122 instrument conveying the interest in Florida real property.
123 2. Notwithstanding paragraph (a), if funds are designated
124 on a closing statement as tax collected from the purchaser, but
125 a default or cancellation occurs pursuant to s. 721.08(2)(a) or
126 (b) and no deed or other instrument conveying interest in
127 Florida real property has been recorded or delivered to the
128 purchaser, the tax must be paid to the department on or before
129 the 20th day of the month following the month in which the funds
130 are available for release from escrow unless the funds have been
131 refunded to the purchaser.
132 (c) The department may adopt rules to administer the method
133 for reporting tax due under this subsection.
134 (11) The documentary stamp tax imposed by this section
135 applies to a deed, instrument, or writing that transfers any
136 interest in real property pursuant to a short sale, as defined
137 in this subsection. The taxable consideration for a short sale
138 transfer does not include unpaid indebtedness that is forgiven
139 or released by a mortgagee holding a mortgage on the grantor’s
140 interest in the property. A short sale is a purchase and sale of
141 real property in which:
142 (a) The grantor’s interest in the real property is
143 encumbered by a mortgage or mortgages securing indebtedness in
144 an aggregate amount greater than the purchase price paid by the
145 grantee;
146 (b) A mortgagee releases the real property from its
147 mortgage in exchange for a partial payment of less than all of
148 the outstanding mortgage indebtedness owing to the releasing
149 mortgagee;
150 (c) Neither the releasing mortgagee nor any person related
151 to the releasing mortgagee receives any interest in the property
152 transferred; and
153 (d) The releasing mortgagee is not controlled by or related
154 to the grantor or the grantee, and the grantor and the grantee
155 are not controlled by or related to each other.
156
157 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
158 And the title is amended as follows:
159 Delete lines 3 - 5
160 and insert:
161 amending s. 201.02, F.S.; imposing the tax on deeds,
162 instruments, and other writings on the consideration for a
163 transfer of real property pursuant to a short sale; providing
164 that the consideration subject to the tax does not include
165 unpaid indebtedness that is forgiven by a mortgagee; defining
166 the term “short sale”; providing an effective date.