The Florida Senate

199.175  Taxable situs.--For purposes of the annual tax imposed under this chapter:

(1)  Intangible personal property shall have a taxable situs in this state when it is owned, managed, or controlled by any person domiciled in this state on January 1 of the tax year. Such intangibles shall be subject to annual taxation under this chapter, unless the person who owns, manages, or controls them is specifically exempt or unless the property is specifically exempt. This provision shall apply regardless of where the evidence of the intangible property is kept; where the intangible is created, approved, or paid; or where business may be conducted from which the intangible arises. The fact that a Florida corporation owns the stock of an out-of-state corporation and manages and controls such corporation from a location in this state shall not operate to give a taxable situs in this state to the intangibles owned by the out-of-state corporation, which intangibles arise out of business transacted outside this state.

¹(a)  For the purposes of this chapter, "any person domiciled in this state" means:

1.  Any natural person who is a legal resident of this state;

2.  Any business, business trust as described in chapter 609, company, corporation, partnership, or other artificial entity organized or created under the law of this state, except a trust; or

3.  Any person, including a business trust, who has established a commercial domicile in this state.

(b)  A business or other artificial entity acquires its commercial domicile in this state when it maintains its chief or principal office in this state where executive or management functions are performed or where the course of business operations is determined.

(c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, intangibles that are credit card receivables or charge card receivables or related lines of credit or loans that would otherwise be deemed to have taxable situs in this state solely because they are owned, managed, or controlled by a bank or savings association as defined in s. 220.62, or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof, which is domiciled in this state shall be treated as having a taxable situs in this state only when the debt represented by the intangible is owed by a customer who is domiciled in this state. As used in this paragraph, the terms "credit card receivables" and "charge card receivables" do not include trade or service receivables as defined in s. 864 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

(2)  Intangible personal property shall have a taxable situs in this state when it is deemed to have a business situs in this state and it is owned, managed, or controlled by a person transacting business in this state, even though the owner may claim a domicile elsewhere. This provision shall apply regardless of where the evidence of the intangible is kept or where the intangible is created, approved, or paid.

(a)  Intangibles shall be deemed to have a Florida business situs when they receive the benefit and protection of Florida laws and courts and they are derived from, arise out of, or are issued in connection with the business transacted in this state with a customer in this state. For purposes of this paragraph:

1.  Business is transacted in this state when any occupation, profession, or commercial activity, including financing, leasing, selling, or servicing activities, is regularly conducted with customers in this state from an office, plant, home, or any other business location in this state.

2.  Business is transacted in this state when any occupation, profession, or commercial activity, including financing, leasing, selling, or servicing activities, is regularly conducted with customers in this state by or through agents, employees, or representatives of any kind in this state, whether or not such persons are vested with discretionary authority.

(b)  Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection:

1.a.  Intangibles that are credit card or charge card receivables or related lines of credit or loans shall be deemed to have business situs in this state only when the debt represented by such intangibles is owed by a customer who is domiciled in this state.

b.  The performance of ministerial functions relating to, or the processing of, credit card or charge card receivables in this state for the owner of such receivables is not sufficient to support a finding that the owner is transacting business in this state.

c.  The term "credit card or charge card receivables" does not include trade or service receivables as defined in s. 864 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

2.  An intangible owned by a real estate mortgage investment conduit, a real estate investment trust, or a regulated investment company, as those terms are defined in the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall not be deemed to have a taxable situs in this state unless such entity has its legal or commercial domicile in this state.

3.  The ownership of any interest in a participation or syndication loan or pool of loans, notes, or receivables shall not be sufficient to support a finding that the owner of such interest is transacting business in this state. For the purposes of this subparagraph, a participation or syndication loan is a loan in which more than one lender is a creditor to a common borrower, and a participation or syndication interest in a pool of loans, notes, or receivables is an interest acquired from the originator or initial creditor with respect to the loans, notes, or receivables constituting the pool.

(c)  It is the intent of this subsection that no nonresident may transact business in this state without paying the same tax which the state imposes on residents transacting the same business.

History.--s. 15, ch. 85-342; s. 40, ch. 87-224; s. 8, ch. 89-356; ss. 4, 5, ch. 98-132; s. 5, ch. 2000-173.

¹Note.--The amendment to paragraph (1)(a) by s. 5, ch. 2000-173, failed to incorporate the amendment by s. 5, ch. 98-132. Absent affirmative evidence that the Legislature intended to omit those changes, they are included here pending further clarification by the Legislature. As amended by s. 5, ch. 2000-173, only, paragraph (1)(a) reads:

(a)  For the purposes of this chapter, "any person domiciled in this state" means:

1.  Any natural person who is a legal resident of this state;

2.  Any bank or financial institution, business, business trust as described in chapter 609, company, corporation, insurance company, partnership, or other artificial entity organized or created under the law of this state, except a trust; or

3.  Any person, including a business trust, who has established a commercial domicile in this state.