Florida Senate - 2016                                    SB 1058
       
       
        
       By Senator Margolis
       
       
       
       
       
       35-01562-16                                           20161058__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to sales taxes on admissions; amending
    3         s. 212.04, F.S.; creating a sales tax exemption for
    4         day use entrance fees and annual entrance passes for
    5         certain state parks; specifying that such exemption
    6         applies to only certain fees; specifying that the
    7         exemption does not apply to certain surcharges;
    8         providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   13  212.04, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         212.04 Admissions tax; rate, procedure, enforcement.—
   15         (2)(a) A tax may not be levied on:
   16         1. Admissions to athletic or other events sponsored by
   17  elementary schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high
   18  schools, community colleges, public or private colleges and
   19  universities, deaf and blind schools, facilities of the youth
   20  services programs of the Department of Children and Families,
   21  and state correctional institutions if only student, faculty, or
   22  inmate talent is used. However, this exemption does not apply to
   23  admission to athletic events sponsored by a state university,
   24  and the proceeds of the tax collected on such admissions shall
   25  be retained and used by each institution to support women’s
   26  athletics as provided in s. 1006.71(2)(c).
   27         2. Dues, membership fees, and admission charges imposed by
   28  not-for-profit sponsoring organizations. To receive this
   29  exemption, the sponsoring organization must qualify as a not
   30  for-profit entity under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
   31  Code of 1954, as amended.
   32         3. Admission charges to an event sponsored by a
   33  governmental entity, sports authority, or sports commission if
   34  held in a convention hall, exhibition hall, auditorium, stadium,
   35  theater, arena, civic center, performing arts center, or
   36  publicly owned recreational facility and if 100 percent of the
   37  risk of success or failure lies with the sponsor of the event
   38  and 100 percent of the funds at risk for the event belong to the
   39  sponsor, and student or faculty talent is not exclusively used.
   40  As used in this subparagraph, the terms “sports authority” and
   41  “sports commission” mean a nonprofit organization that is exempt
   42  from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal
   43  Revenue Code and that contracts with a county or municipal
   44  government for the purpose of promoting and attracting sports
   45  tourism events to the community with which it contracts.
   46         4. An admission paid by a student, or on the student’s
   47  behalf, to any required place of sport or recreation if the
   48  student’s participation in the sport or recreational activity is
   49  required as a part of a program or activity sponsored by, and
   50  under the jurisdiction of, the student’s educational institution
   51  if his or her attendance is as a participant and not as a
   52  spectator.
   53         5. Admissions to the National Football League championship
   54  game or Pro Bowl; admissions to any semifinal game or
   55  championship game of a national collegiate tournament;
   56  admissions to a Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer,
   57  National Basketball Association, or National Hockey League all
   58  star game; admissions to the Major League Baseball Home Run
   59  Derby held before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game; or
   60  admissions to National Basketball Association all-star events
   61  produced by the National Basketball Association and held at a
   62  facility such as an arena, convention center, or municipal
   63  facility.
   64         6. A participation fee or sponsorship fee imposed by a
   65  governmental entity as described in s. 212.08(6) for an athletic
   66  or recreational program if the governmental entity by itself, or
   67  in conjunction with an organization exempt under s. 501(c)(3) of
   68  the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, sponsors,
   69  administers, plans, supervises, directs, and controls the
   70  athletic or recreational program.
   71         7. Admissions to live theater, live opera, or live ballet
   72  productions in this state which are sponsored by an organization
   73  that has received a determination from the Internal Revenue
   74  Service that the organization is exempt from federal income tax
   75  under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as
   76  amended, if the organization actively participates in planning
   77  and conducting the event, is responsible for the safety and
   78  success of the event, is organized for the purpose of sponsoring
   79  live theater, live opera, or live ballet productions in this
   80  state, has more than 10,000 subscribing members and has among
   81  the stated purposes in its charter the promotion of arts
   82  education in the communities it serves, and will receive at
   83  least 20 percent of the net profits, if any, of the events the
   84  organization sponsors and will bear the risk of at least 20
   85  percent of the losses, if any, from the events it sponsors if
   86  the organization employs other persons as agents to provide
   87  services in connection with a sponsored event. Before March 1 of
   88  each year, such organization may apply to the department for a
   89  certificate of exemption for admissions to such events sponsored
   90  in this state by the organization during the immediately
   91  following state fiscal year. The application must state the
   92  total dollar amount of admissions receipts collected by the
   93  organization or its agents from such events in this state
   94  sponsored by the organization or its agents in the year
   95  immediately preceding the year in which the organization applies
   96  for the exemption. Such organization shall receive the exemption
   97  only to the extent of $1.5 million multiplied by the ratio that
   98  such receipts bear to the total of such receipts of all
   99  organizations applying for the exemption in such year; however,
  100  such exemption granted to any organization may not exceed 6
  101  percent of such admissions receipts collected by the
  102  organization or its agents in the year immediately preceding the
  103  year in which the organization applies for the exemption. Each
  104  organization receiving the exemption shall report each month to
  105  the department the total admissions receipts collected from such
  106  events sponsored by the organization during the preceding month
  107  and shall remit to the department an amount equal to 6 percent
  108  of such receipts reduced by any amount remaining under the
  109  exemption. Tickets for such events sold by such organizations
  110  may not reflect the tax otherwise imposed under this section.
  111         8. Entry fees for participation in freshwater fishing
  112  tournaments.
  113         9. Participation or entry fees charged to participants in a
  114  game, race, or other sport or recreational event if spectators
  115  are charged a taxable admission to such event.
  116         10. Admissions to any postseason collegiate football game
  117  sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
  118         11. Admissions to and membership fees for gun clubs. For
  119  purposes of this subparagraph, the term “gun club” means an
  120  organization whose primary purpose is to offer its members
  121  access to one or more shooting ranges for target or skeet
  122  shooting.
  123         12.Day use entrance fees and annual entrance passes to
  124  state parks. This sales tax exemption applies only to entrance
  125  fees and does not apply to any other state park-related fees or
  126  charges, including surcharges levied in state parks within areas
  127  of critical state concern designated pursuant to s. 380.05.
  128         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.