Florida Senate - 2020 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 508 Ì406954@Î406954 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 02/13/2020 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Finance and Tax (Baxley) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Subsections (4) and (8) of section 212.07, 6 Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (2) of that 7 section is republished, to read: 8 212.07 Sales, storage, use tax; tax added to purchase 9 price;dealer not to absorb;liability of purchasers who cannot 10 prove payment of the tax; penalties; general exemptions.— 11 (2) A dealer shall, as far as practicable, add the amount 12 of the tax imposed under this chapter to the sale price, and the 13 amount of the tax shall be separately stated as Florida tax on 14 any charge ticket, sales slip, invoice, or other tangible 15 evidence of sale. Such tax shall constitute a part of such 16 price, charge, or proof of sale which shall be a debt from the 17 purchaser or consumer to the dealer, until paid, and shall be 18 recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts. Where it 19 is impracticable, due to the nature of the business practices 20 within an industry, to separately state Florida tax on any 21 charge ticket, sales slip, invoice, or other tangible evidence 22 of sale, the department may establish an effective tax rate for 23 such industry. The department may also amend this effective tax 24 rate as the industry’s pricing or practices change. Except as 25 otherwise specifically provided, any dealer who neglects, fails, 26 or refuses to collect the tax herein provided upon any, every, 27 and all retail sales made by the dealer or the dealer’s agents 28 or employees of tangible personal property or services which are 29 subject to the tax imposed by this chapter shall be liable for 30 and pay the tax himself or herself. 31 (4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a dealer 32 engaged in any business taxable under this chapter may not 33 advertise or hold out to the public, in any manner, directly or 34 indirectly, that he or she will payabsorball or any part of 35 the tax, or that he or she will relieve the purchaser of the 36 payment of all or any part of the tax, or that the tax will not 37 be added to the selling price of the property or services sold 38 or released or, when added, that it or any part thereof will be 39 refunded either directly or indirectly by any method whatsoever. 40 (b) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the 41 contrary, a dealer may advertise or hold out to the public that 42 he or she will pay all or any part of the tax on behalf of the 43 purchaser, subject to both of the following conditions: 44 1. The dealer must expressly state on any charge ticket, 45 sales slip, invoice, or other tangible evidence of sale given to 46 the purchaser that the dealer will pay the tax imposed by this 47 chapter to the state. The dealer may not indicate or imply that 48 the transaction is exempt or excluded from the tax imposed by 49 this chapter. 50 2. A charge ticket, sales slip, invoice, or other tangible 51 evidence of the sale given to the purchaser must separately 52 state the sale price and the amount of the tax in accordance 53 with subsection (2). 54 (c) A person who violates this subsection commitsprovision55with respect to advertising or refund is guilty ofa misdemeanor 56 of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 57 775.083. A second or subsequent offense constitutes a 58 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 59 775.082 or s. 775.083. 60 (8) Any person who has purchased at retail, used, consumed, 61 distributed, or stored for use or consumption in this state 62 tangible personal property, admissions, communication or other 63 services taxable under this chapter, or leased tangible personal 64 property, or who has leased, occupied, or used or was entitled 65 to use any real property, space or spaces in parking lots or 66 garages for motor vehicles, docking or storage space or spaces 67 for boats in boat docks or marinas, and cannot prove that the 68 tax levied by this chapter has been paid to his or her vendor, 69 lessor, or other person or was paid on behalf of the purchaser 70 by a dealer pursuant to subsection (4) is directly liable to the 71 state for any tax, interest, or penalty due on any such taxable 72 transactions. 73 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 212.15, Florida 74 Statutes, is amended to read: 75 212.15 Taxes declared state funds; penalties for failure to 76 remit taxes; due and delinquent dates; judicial review.— 77 (2) Any person who, with intent to unlawfully deprive or 78 defraud the state of its moneys or the use or benefit thereof, 79 fails to remit taxes collected or paid on behalf of a purchaser 80 under this chapter commits theft of state funds, punishable as 81 follows: 82 (a) If the total amount of stolen revenue is less than 83 $1,000, the offense is a misdemeanor of the second degree, 84 punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Upon a 85 second conviction, the offender commits a misdemeanor of the 86 first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 87 775.083. Upon a third or subsequent conviction, the offender 88 commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in 89 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 90 (b) If the total amount of stolen revenue is $1,000 or 91 more, but less than $20,000, the offense is a felony of the 92 third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 93 or s. 775.084. 94 (c) If the total amount of stolen revenue is $20,000 or 95 more, but less than $100,000, the offense is a felony of the 96 second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 97 or s. 775.084. 98 (d) If the total amount of stolen revenue is $100,000 or 99 more, the offense is a felony of the first degree, punishable as 100 provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 101 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020. 102 103 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 104 And the title is amended as follows: 105 Delete everything before the enacting clause 106 and insert: 107 A bill to be entitled 108 An act relating to sales tax absorption; amending s. 109 212.07, F.S.; authorizing dealers, subject to certain 110 conditions, to advertise or hold out to the public 111 that they will pay sales tax on behalf of the 112 purchaser; conforming a provision to changes made by 113 the act; amending s. 212.15, F.S.; conforming a 114 provision to changes made by the act; providing an 115 effective date.