Florida Senate - 2011 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for SB 1384 Barcode 376922 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: WD . 05/06/2011 03:25 PM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Senator Ring moved the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Before line 43 4 insert: 5 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 212.0596, Florida 6 Statutes, is amended to read: 7 212.0596 Taxation of mail order sales.— 8 (2) Every dealer as defined in s. 212.06(2)(c) who makes a 9 mail order sale is subject to the power of this state to levy 10 and collect the tax imposed by this chapter when: 11 (a) The dealer is a corporation doing business under the 12 laws of this state or a person domiciled in, a resident of, or a 13 citizen of, this state; 14 (b) The dealer maintains retail establishments or offices 15 in this state, whether the mail order sales thus subject to 16 taxation by this state result from or are related in any other 17 way to the activities of such establishments or offices; 18 (c) The dealer has agents in this state who solicit 19 business or transact business on behalf of the dealer, whether 20 the mail order sales thus subject to taxation by this state 21 result from or are related in any other way to such solicitation 22 or transaction of business, except that: 23 1. A printer who mails or delivers for an out-of-state 24 print purchaser material the printer printed for it shall not be 25 deemed to be the print purchaser’s agent for purposes of this 26 paragraph; or 27 2. A fulfillment center owned, leased, or operated by an 28 economic investment entity that is owned, maintained, occupied, 29 operated, or used in this state permanently, temporarily, 30 directly, or indirectly by the dealer, or through a subsidiary, 31 affiliate, or agent of the dealer, may not be deemed to be the 32 dealer’s agent for purposes of this paragraph. This provision 33 does not apply to any person that is registered to collect the 34 tax imposed under this chapter as of May 1, 2011; 35 (d) The property was delivered in this state in fulfillment 36 of a sales contract that was entered into in this state, in 37 accordance with applicable conflict of laws rules, when a person 38 in this state accepted an offer by ordering the property; 39 (e) The dealer, by purposefully or systematically 40 exploiting the market provided by this state by any media 41 assisted, media-facilitated, or media-solicited means, 42 including, but not limited to, direct mail advertising, 43 unsolicited distribution of catalogs, computer-assisted 44 shopping, television, radio, or other electronic media, or 45 magazine or newspaper advertisements or other media, creates 46 nexus with this state; 47 (f) Through compact or reciprocity with another 48 jurisdiction of the United States, that jurisdiction uses its 49 taxing power and its jurisdiction over the retailer in support 50 of this state’s taxing power; 51 (g) The dealer consents, expressly or by implication, to 52 the imposition of the tax imposed by this chapter; 53 (h) The dealer is subject to service of process under s. 54 48.181; 55 (i) The dealer’s mail order sales are subject to the power 56 of this state to tax sales or to require the dealer to collect 57 use taxes under a statute or statutes of the United States; 58 (j) The dealer owns real property or tangible personal 59 property that is physically in this state, except that: 60 1. A dealer whose only property (including property owned 61 by an affiliate) in this state is located at the premises of a 62 printer with which the vendor has contracted for printing, and 63 is either a final printed product, or property which becomes a 64 part of the final printed product, or property from which the 65 printed product is produced, is not deemed to own such property 66 for purposes of this paragraph; or 67 2. A dealer whose property, including property owned by a 68 subsidiary, affiliate, or agent, in this state is located at the 69 premises of a fulfillment center that is owned, leased, or 70 operated by an economic investment entity in this state is not 71 deemed to own such property for purposes of this paragraph. This 72 provision does not apply to any person that is registered to 73 collect the tax imposed under this chapter as of May 1, 2011; 74 (k) The dealer, while not having nexus with this state on 75 any of the bases described in paragraphs (a)-(j) or paragraph 76 (l), is a corporation that is a member of an affiliated group of 77 corporations, as defined in s. 1504(a) of the Internal Revenue 78 Code, whose members are includable under s. 1504(b) of the 79 Internal Revenue Code and whose members are eligible to file a 80 consolidated tax return for federal corporate income tax 81 purposes and any parent or subsidiary corporation in the 82 affiliated group has nexus with this state on one or more of the 83 bases described in paragraphs (a)-(j) or paragraph (l); or 84 (l) The dealer or the dealer’s activities have sufficient 85 connection with or relationship to this state or its residents 86 of some type other than those described in paragraphs (a)-(k) to 87 create nexus empowering this state to tax its mail order sales 88 or to require the dealer to collect sales tax or accrue use tax. 89 Section 2. Paragraphs (m), (n), and (o) are added to 90 subsection (2) of section 212.06, Florida Statutes, to read: 91 212.06 Sales, storage, use tax; collectible from dealers; 92 “dealer” defined; dealers to collect from purchasers; 93 legislative intent as to scope of tax.— 94 (2) 95 (m) Except as provided in paragraph (n), a remote dealer 96 shall be considered a “dealer” for purposes of subsection (3). 97 (n) Notwithstanding paragraph (m) or any other law, a 98 remote dealer that qualifies as an economic investment entity 99 under s. 212.099 may not be considered a to be “dealer” under 100 this chapter. However, the economic investment entity shall be 101 considered a dealer for purposes of obtaining a purchaser resale 102 certificate. 103 (o)1. Notwithstanding paragraph (m) or any other law, a 104 person shall not be considered to be a “dealer” under this 105 chapter, except for purposes of obtaining a purchaser resale 106 certificate, due to that person’s: 107 a. Maintenance, occupation, operation, or use in this state 108 permanently, temporarily, directly, or indirectly, or through a 109 subsidiary, affiliate, or agent by whatever name, of a 110 fulfillment center that is owned, leased, or operated by an 111 economic investment entity; 112 b. Ownership of tangible personal property located at the 113 premises of a fulfillment center owned, leased, or operated by 114 an economic investment entity; or 115 c. Maintenance, occupation, operation, or use in this state 116 permanently, temporarily, directly, or indirectly, or through a 117 subsidiary, affiliate, agent by whatever name, or otherwise of a 118 computer server. 119 2. This paragraph does not apply to any person that is 120 registered to collect the tax imposed under this chapter as of 121 May 1, 2011. 122 Section 3. Subsection (10) is added to section 212.07, 123 Florida Statutes, to read: 124 212.07 Sales, storage, use tax; tax added to purchase 125 price; dealer not to absorb; liability of purchasers who cannot 126 prove payment of the tax; penalties; general exemptions.— 127 (10) Notwithstanding any other law: 128 (a) A sale for resale of tangible personal property, 129 regardless of whether the sale for resale is otherwise tax 130 exempt under this chapter, to an economic investment entity, as 131 defined by s. 212.099; and 132 (b) Such property is delivered to the economic investment 133 entity or its customer in this state, 134 135 is not subject to any tax that would otherwise be imposed on 136 such transactions under this chapter. 137 Section 4. Section 212.099, Florida Statutes, is created to 138 read: 139 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section and in ss. 140 212.0596(2)(c) and (j), 212.06(2)(m), (n), and (o), 212.07(10), 141 and 212.18, the term: 142 (a) “Affiliate” means a person that directly or indirectly, 143 through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, 144 or is under common control with another person. For purposes of 145 this paragraph, a person controls another person if that person 146 directly or indirectly holds an ownership interest of more than 147 50 percent in the other person. 148 (b) “Fulfillment center” means an establishment in this 149 state where tangible personal property and gift cards are stored 150 or processed for delivery to customers via common carrier. The 151 term does not include an establishment that is open to the 152 general public for the in-person receipt of tangible personal 153 property sold at retail, excluding sales for resale, regardless 154 of whether the sale for resale is tax exempt under this chapter. 155 (c) “Remote dealer” means any person whose physical 156 presence in this state is attributable to the maintenance, 157 occupation, operation, or use of a distributing house, or house, 158 warehouse or other place of business by such person directly, 159 indirectly, or by such person’s subsidiary, affiliate, or agent, 160 unless the in-state place of business is a physical location 161 that is open to the general public for the sale of goods at 162 retail or for the in-person receipt of goods sold at retail and 163 at least one of the following activities is performed at the 164 place of business: 165 1. Retail sales of goods by such person or on such person’s 166 behalf, excluding sales for resale, regardless of whether the 167 sale for resale is tax exempt under this chapter; 168 2. Promotion of such person’s business, such as 169 distributing such person’s coupons or compiling such person’s 170 mailing list, but excluding the distribution of such person’s 171 merchandise, advertising materials, including flyers and other 172 promotional materials and the availability of such person’s 173 catalogs at such place of business to use for reference purposes 174 or to be provided to a retail customer at the customer’s 175 request; 176 3. Acceptance of in-person returns or exchanges of, or 177 credits for, merchandise purchased from or through such person; 178 4. Maintenance of telephone or Internet kiosks that allow 179 retail customers to access inventories and purchase merchandise 180 from or through such person; or 181 5. Acceptance or placement of customers’ orders with such 182 person when a product is unavailable at such place of business. 183 (d) “Economic investment entity” means a remote dealer, as 184 defined in paragraph (c), which may, in combination with any 185 affiliates of the remote dealer, also be remote dealers: 186 1. Within 3 years after July 1, 2011, achieves a net 187 increase in employees in this state of 1,500, measured pursuant 188 to subsection (3); 189 2. For 4 years subsequent to achieving the net increase 190 described under subparagraph 1., maintains an increase of at 191 least 1,500 employees in this state in each year, measured 192 pursuant to subsection (3); 193 3. Within 3 years after July 1, 2011, invests more than 194 $100 million in qualified expenditures in this state; and 195 4. Owns or operates one or more fulfillment centers in this 196 state. 197 (e) “Qualified expenditure” means any capital expenditure 198 other than inventory or compensation paid to employees. 199 (2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—For purposes of this section 200 only: 201 (a) All persons who are employed at a facility regardless 202 of whether such persons are employed by the remote dealer shall 203 be treated as employed by the remote dealer. 204 (b) All qualified expenditures that are incurred by those 205 entities and persons that are affiliates of a remote dealer, or 206 by any other person with respect to a facility to be used 207 primarily by the remote dealer or an affiliate of the remote 208 dealer, shall be treated as incurred by the remote dealer. 209 (3) MEASUREMENT OF EMPLOYEE THRESHOLDS.— 210 (a) For purposes of subparagraph (1)(d)1. the net increase 211 in employees shall be measured by subtracting the number of 212 employees, determined on a full-time equivalent basis, employed 213 by the remote dealer as of July 1, 2011, from the average number 214 of employees, determined on a full-time equivalent basis, 215 employed by the remote dealer from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 216 2014. 217 (b) For purposes of subparagraph (1)(d)2., the number of 218 employees, determined on a full-time equivalent basis, employed 219 by the remote dealer for each year shall be the average number 220 of employees, determined on a full-time equivalent basis, 221 employed by the remote dealer from July 1 of the previous 222 calendar year to June 30 of the current calendar year. 223 (4) QUALIFICATION AS AN ECONOMIC INVESTMENT ENTITY.— 224 (a) To qualify as an economic investment entity, a remote 225 dealer must file a statement with the department indicating that 226 the remote dealer will meet the definition of economic 227 investment entity under paragraph (1)(d). The statement must 228 include, but need not be limited to: 229 1. The federal employer identification number of the remote 230 dealer and its applicable affiliates, including existing or 231 acquired affiliates, which in combination with the remote 232 dealer, are taken into account for qualification of an economic 233 investment entity. 234 2. The anticipated net increase in employees, determined on 235 a full-time equivalent basis, in this state as of June 30, 2014, 236 calculated pursuant to paragraph (3)(a). 237 3. The anticipated number of employees, determined on a 238 full-time equivalent basis, employed by the remote dealer for 239 each of the 4 years subsequent to the year in which the remote 240 dealer achieves the net increase described in subparagraph 241 (1)(d)1., calculated pursuant to paragraph (3)(b). 242 4. The anticipated amount of qualified expenditures that 243 will be invested by the remote dealer in this state as of June 244 30, 2014. 245 (b) A remote dealer shall be considered an economic 246 investment entity as of January 1 of the year in which the 247 statement is filed. 248 (c) Any remote dealer who is an affiliate of a remote 249 dealer that qualifies as an economic investment entity under 250 this section shall also be considered an economic investment 251 entity and is not required to file a separate statement with the 252 department. 253 (5) PENALTIES.—Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 254 95.091(3), a remote dealer who is considered an economic 255 investment entity in a particular year but who is subsequently 256 shown to have failed to meet the requirements of paragraph 257 (1)(d) for the required periods set forth in paragraph (1)(d) is 258 liable for any tax that the remote dealer would have been 259 required to remit to the department with respect to such non 260 qualifying year had that remote dealer not qualified as an 261 economic investment entity for such year. 262 (6) EFFECT OF QUALIFYING STATEMENT.—Notwithstanding any 263 other provision of law, the filing of a statement to qualify as 264 an economic investment entity under subsection (4) shall not 265 serve as the basis for subjecting an economic investment entity 266 to liability for tax imposed under this chapter except for 267 taxable expenditures consumed at the fulfillment center. 268 (7) RULEMAKING.—The department may adopt forms and rules to 269 administer this section. 270 Section 5. Present subsection (4) of section 212.18, 271 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (5), and a new 272 subsection (4) is added to that section, to read: 273 212.18 Administration of law; registration of dealers; 274 rules.— 275 (4) An economic investment entity that ships items to 276 customers located in this state shall not be required to file 277 any report, statement, or other information with any government 278 agency or official in this state related to sales and use tax 279 notification with respect to purchases made from such economic 280 investment entity. The economic investment entity shall not be 281 required to send to customers in this state sales and use tax 282 notifications with respect to their purchases. 283 284 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 285 And the title is amended as follows: 286 Delete line 2 287 and insert: 288 An act relating to taxation; amending s. 212.0596, 289 F.S.; creating an exception to acts that may otherwise 290 subject a fulfillment center to requirements to 291 collect and remit sales and use taxes to this state; 292 amending s. 212.06, F.S.; providing that an economic 293 investment entity is not considered to be a dealer; 294 providing that specified conduct relating to a 295 fulfillment center does not result in a person being 296 considered as a dealer; amending s. 212.07, F.S.; 297 providing that certain transactions by an economic 298 investment entity are exempt from sales and use taxes; 299 creating s. 212.099, F.S.; providing definitions; 300 requiring an a remote dealer that seeks to qualify as 301 an economic investment entity to have a specified 302 number of employees and make a specified investment in 303 this state; imposing additional tax liability for 304 failing to employ the required number of employees or 305 make the required minimum investment; authorizing the 306 Department of Revenue to adopt rules; amending s. 307 212.18, F.S.; providing that an economic investment 308 entity is not required to file reports, statements, or 309 information relating to sales and use taxes under 310 certain circumstances; providing that an economic 311 investment entity is not required to send customers 312 sales and use tax notifications;