Florida Senate - 2014                                     SB 330
       
       
        
       By Senators Simmons, Soto, and Margolis
       
       
       
       
       
       10-00496-14                                            2014330__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the admissions tax; amending s.
    3         212.04, F.S.; revising the professional sporting
    4         events that are exempt from the admissions tax;
    5         providing an effective date.
    6          
    7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   10  212.04, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   11         212.04 Admissions tax; rate, procedure, enforcement.—
   12         (2)(a) A tax may not be levied on:
   13         1. No tax shall be levied on Admissions to athletic or
   14  other events sponsored by elementary schools, junior high
   15  schools, middle schools, high schools, community colleges,
   16  public or private colleges and universities, deaf and blind
   17  schools, facilities of the youth services programs of the
   18  Department of Children and Families Family Services, and state
   19  correctional institutions if when only student, faculty, or
   20  inmate talent is used. However, this exemption does shall not
   21  apply to admission to athletic events sponsored by a state
   22  university, and the proceeds of the tax collected on such
   23  admissions shall be retained and used by each institution to
   24  support women’s athletics as provided in s. 1006.71(2)(c).
   25         2.a.No tax shall be levied on Dues, membership fees, and
   26  admission charges imposed by not-for-profit sponsoring
   27  organizations. To receive this exemption, the sponsoring
   28  organization must qualify as a not-for-profit entity under the
   29  provisions of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,
   30  as amended.
   31         3.b.No tax shall be levied on Admission charges to an
   32  event sponsored by a governmental entity, sports authority, or
   33  sports commission if when held in a convention hall, exhibition
   34  hall, auditorium, stadium, theater, arena, civic center,
   35  performing arts center, or publicly owned recreational facility
   36  and if when 100 percent of the risk of success or failure lies
   37  with the sponsor of the event and 100 percent of the funds at
   38  risk for the event belong to the sponsor, and student or faculty
   39  talent is not exclusively used. As used in this subparagraph
   40  sub-subparagraph, the terms “sports authority” and “sports
   41  commission” mean a nonprofit organization that is exempt from
   42  federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
   43  Code and that contracts with a county or municipal government
   44  for the purpose of promoting and attracting sports-tourism
   45  events to the community with which it contracts.
   46         4.3.No tax shall be levied on An admission paid by a
   47  student, or on the student’s behalf, to any required place of
   48  sport or recreation if the student’s participation in the sport
   49  or recreational activity is required as a part of a program or
   50  activity sponsored by, and under the jurisdiction of, the
   51  student’s educational institution if, provided his or her
   52  attendance is as a participant and not as a spectator.
   53         5.4.No tax shall be levied on Admissions to the National
   54  Football League championship game or Pro Bowl; on admissions to
   55  any semifinal game or championship game of a national collegiate
   56  tournament; on admissions to a Major League Baseball, Major
   57  League Soccer, National Basketball Association, or National
   58  Hockey League all-star game; on admissions to the Major League
   59  Baseball Home Run Derby held before the Major League Baseball
   60  All-Star Game; or on admissions to the National Basketball
   61  Association all-star events produced by the National Basketball
   62  Association and held at a facility such as an arena, convention
   63  center, or municipal facility Rookie Challenge, Celebrity Game,
   64  3-Point Shooting Contest, or Slam Dunk Challenge.
   65         6.5. A participation fee or sponsorship fee imposed by a
   66  governmental entity as described in s. 212.08(6) for an athletic
   67  or recreational program if is exempt when the governmental
   68  entity by itself, or in conjunction with an organization exempt
   69  under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as
   70  amended, sponsors, administers, plans, supervises, directs, and
   71  controls the athletic or recreational program.
   72         7.6.Also exempt from the tax imposed by this section to
   73  the extent provided in this subparagraph are Admissions to live
   74  theater, live opera, or live ballet productions in this state
   75  which are sponsored by an organization that has received a
   76  determination from the Internal Revenue Service that the
   77  organization is exempt from federal income tax under s.
   78  501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, if
   79  the organization actively participates in planning and
   80  conducting the event, is responsible for the safety and success
   81  of the event, is organized for the purpose of sponsoring live
   82  theater, live opera, or live ballet productions in this state,
   83  has more than 10,000 subscribing members and has among the
   84  stated purposes in its charter the promotion of arts education
   85  in the communities which it serves, and will receive at least 20
   86  percent of the net profits, if any, of the events which the
   87  organization sponsors and will bear the risk of at least 20
   88  percent of the losses, if any, from the events which it sponsors
   89  if the organization employs other persons as agents to provide
   90  services in connection with a sponsored event. Before Prior to
   91  March 1 of each year, such organization may apply to the
   92  department for a certificate of exemption for admissions to such
   93  events sponsored in this state by the organization during the
   94  immediately following state fiscal year. The application must
   95  shall state the total dollar amount of admissions receipts
   96  collected by the organization or its agents from such events in
   97  this state sponsored by the organization or its agents in the
   98  year immediately preceding the year in which the organization
   99  applies for the exemption. Such organization shall receive the
  100  exemption only to the extent of $1.5 million multiplied by the
  101  ratio that such receipts bear to the total of such receipts of
  102  all organizations applying for the exemption in such year;
  103  however, in no event shall such exemption granted to any
  104  organization may not exceed 6 percent of such admissions
  105  receipts collected by the organization or its agents in the year
  106  immediately preceding the year in which the organization applies
  107  for the exemption. Each organization receiving the exemption
  108  shall report each month to the department the total admissions
  109  receipts collected from such events sponsored by the
  110  organization during the preceding month and shall remit to the
  111  department an amount equal to 6 percent of such receipts reduced
  112  by any amount remaining under the exemption. Tickets for such
  113  events sold by such organizations may shall not reflect the tax
  114  otherwise imposed under this section.
  115         8.7.Also exempt from the tax imposed by this section are
  116  Entry fees for participation in freshwater fishing tournaments.
  117         9.8.Also exempt from the tax imposed by this section are
  118  Participation or entry fees charged to participants in a game,
  119  race, or other sport or recreational event if spectators are
  120  charged a taxable admission to such event.
  121         10.9.No tax shall be levied on Admissions to any
  122  postseason collegiate football game sanctioned by the National
  123  Collegiate Athletic Association.
  124         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.