1 HB181
2 216418-2
3 By Representative Scott
4 RFD: State Government
5 First Read: 01-FEB-22
Page 0 1 216418-2:n:01/21/2022:MM/bm LSA2022-118
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, the Department of
9 Revenue is required to issue executions and writs
10 of garnishment by service of any sheriff of
11 Alabama.
12 This bill would allow the Department of
13 Revenue the option to issue writs of garnishment
14 through certified or standard mail if service by
15 sheriff is not selected.
16
17 A BILL
18 TO BE ENTITLED
19 AN ACT
20
21 Relating to the Department of Revenue; to amend
22 Section 40-2-11, Code of Alabama 1975, as amended by Act
23 2021-146, 2021 Regular Session; to allow the issuance of writs
24 of garnishment by certified or standard mail.
25 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Page 1 1 Section 1. Section 40-2-11, Code of Alabama 1975, as
2 amended by Act 2021-146, 2021 Regular Session, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 "ยง40-2-11.
5 "(a)It shall be the duty of the department, and it
6 shall have the power and authority, in addition to the
7 authority now in it vested by law:
8 "(1) To have and exercise general and complete
9 supervision and control of the valuation, equalization, and
10 assessment of property, privilege, or franchise and of the
11 collection of all property, privilege, license, excise,
12 intangible, franchise, or other taxes for the state and
13 counties, and of the enforcement of the tax laws of the state,
14 and of the several county tax assessors and county tax
15 collectors, judges of probate, and each and every state and
16 county official, board, or commission charged with any duty in
17 the enforcement of tax laws, to the end that all taxable
18 property in the state shall be assessed and taxes shall be
19 imposed and collected thereon in compliance with the law and
20 that all assessments on property, privileges, intangibles, and
21 franchises in the state shall be made in exact proportion to
22 the fair and reasonable market value thereof in substantial
23 compliance with the law.
24 "(2) To equalize, value, and assess or cause to be
25 equalized, valued, and assessed any property subject to
26 taxation, and such valuations and assessments it shall enter
27 or cause to be entered in the proper assessment book, record,
Page 2 1 or minutes of the proper official, board, or tribunal; to set
2 aside all assessments so entered in any assessment book,
3 record, or minutes within any time before the end of the
4 assessment year and, after 10 days' notice given the taxpayer,
5 which notice shall be given by certified or registered mail,
6 return receipt demanded, of the time and place of hearing,
7 revalue and reassess the property and cause such revaluation
8 and reassessment to be entered in the proper assessment book,
9 record, or minutes in lieu of the original valuation and
10 assessment; provided, that no reassessment or revaluation
11 shall be made of any particular assessment from which an
12 appeal is then pending, or if the valuation of the property
13 for that year has been fixed on appeal by the circuit court or
14 Supreme Court; provided further, that parties may appeal from
15 such revaluation and assessment to the circuit court within
16 like time and in like manner as from the valuation and
17 assessment as fixed by the board of equalization.
18 "(3) To confer with, advise, and direct the several
19 county tax assessors, county tax collectors, judges of
20 probate, boards, or commissions and every state and county
21 official charged with the assessment and collection of taxes
22 as to their duties under the laws of this state.
23 "(4) To direct actions to be instituted by the
24 Attorney General, district attorneys, or attorneys especially
25 employed for such purposes, with the approval of the Attorney
26 General for the collection of any taxes or penalties due the
27 state or any county, or to compel any officer or taxpayer to
Page 3 1 comply with the provisions of the tax laws; to direct actions,
2 prosecutions, and proceedings to be instituted to enforce the
3 laws of this state relating to taxes, penalties, forfeitures,
4 and liabilities, and for the punishment of any public officers
5 or any person or any officer or agent of any corporation,
6 company, or association, trustee, or receiver for failure or
7 neglect to comply with the provisions of the tax laws, and to
8 cause complaints, informations, actions, or prosecutions to be
9 made or instituted against any tax assessor, tax collector,
10 judge of probate, or other public official for the removal of
11 such officers for official misconduct or neglect of duty and
12 to further direct actions as may become necessary to obtain an
13 order from a circuit court enjoining or restraining a taxpayer
14 from continuing in business in Alabama whenever such taxpayer
15 fails to collect, account for, and/or pay over any trust fund
16 tax imposed by Sections 40-17-220, 40-17-325, 40-18-71,
17 40-21-82, 40-21-102, 40-21-121, 40-23-2, 40-23-61, 40-23-193,
18 40-26-1, or any other local sales, use, and gross receipts
19 taxes collected by the department. Such actions and
20 proceedings may be instituted in the circuit court of any
21 county in which the taxpayer resides or does business, or in
22 the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, and shall
23 remain in effect until such time as the taxpayer has come into
24 full compliance with the tax laws.
25 "(5) To require district attorneys and the Attorney
26 General of the state to commence and prosecute, within the
27 respective jurisdictions or spheres of official duty of the
Page 4 1 officers, actions, proceedings, and prosecutions for
2 penalties, forfeitures, impeachments, and punishments for
3 violations of the tax laws of the state, to enter into
4 agreements with district attorneys and the Attorney General of
5 the state to reimburse those offices for reasonable fees or
6 costs of actions, proceedings, and prosecutions, and to fund
7 the reimbursements, in whole or in part, from penalties
8 assessed and collected pursuant to Section 40-2A-11.
9 "(6) To require any public official in the state to
10 report information as to valuation, equalization, and
11 assessment of property, privileges, franchises or intangibles,
12 gross receipts, collections of taxes, receipts from licenses
13 and other sources, methods of taxation, values or franchises,
14 or intangible property, or assets subject to taxation, and
15 such other information as may be needful in the work of the
16 Department of Revenue in such forms and upon such blanks as
17 the department may prescribe and furnish.
18 "(7)a. To require individuals, partnerships,
19 associations, corporations, trustees, and receivers, and the
20 agents, officers, and employees thereof, to furnish
21 information concerning their capital, funded or otherwise,
22 gross receipts, net profits or income, excess profits, current
23 assets and liabilities, values of franchises, intangibles,
24 value of property, earnings, operating and other expenses,
25 bonds, deeds, conduct of business, and all other facts,
26 records, books, papers, documents, and other information of
27 any kind demanded which may be needful in order to enable the
Page 5 1 department to ascertain the value and relative burden to be
2 borne by every kind of property in this state and to ascertain
3 the proper amount of license, privilege, excise, corporation,
4 franchise, income, or ad valorem taxes.
5 "b. To require reporting of retail sales and
6 customer notification, within constitutional limitations, when
7 the seller does not collect sales, use, or simplified sellers
8 use tax on Alabama sales transactions, and to provide for
9 penalties pursuant to Section 40-2A-11.
10 "c. To require reporting of rental transactions of
11 tangible personal property as defined in Section 40-12-220,
12 when the property is classified as Class II or Class IV
13 property under Section 40-8-1, by persons facilitating the
14 transactions and to require notifications to the lessor when
15 the lessor has not furnished evidence that it has acquired a
16 license as required under Section 40-12-221, and to provide
17 for penalties pursuant to Section 40-2A-11.
18 "(8) To cause the deposition of witnesses residing
19 within or without the state to be taken upon such notice to
20 the interested party, if any, as the department may prescribe,
21 in like manner as depositions of witnesses are taken in
22 actions pending in circuit court, in any matter which the
23 department has authority to investigate and determine. The
24 depositions shall be taken upon a commission issued by the
25 Department of Revenue, or the secretary thereof, in the name
26 of the department, and returnable to the department.
Page 6 1 "(9) To visit, by the commissioner or by duly
2 authorized agents, the several counties in the state for the
3 purpose of investigating the work and methods of county tax
4 assessors, tax collectors, judges of probate, or other
5 officers or boards charged with the duty of administering the
6 tax laws of the state; to examine carefully into all cases
7 where evasions or violations of the tax laws are alleged,
8 complained of, or discovered, and to ascertain wherein
9 existing laws are defective or are improperly or negligently
10 administered and to report the result of the investigation and
11 the facts ascertained to the Governor from time to time when
12 required by the Governor.
13 "(10) To investigate the tax system of other states;
14 to thoroughly inform itself upon the subject of taxation and
15 of the progress made in other states and counties in improving
16 their tax system, to formulate and recommend such legislation
17 as may be deemed expedient to prevent evasion of existing tax
18 laws and to secure just and equal taxation and improvements in
19 the system of taxation in this state.
20 "(11) To consult and confer with the Governor upon
21 the subject of taxation and the administration of the laws and
22 progress of the work of the department, and to furnish to the
23 Governor from time to time such information as the Governor
24 may require.
25 "(12) To transmit to the Governor, 30 days before
26 the meeting of the Legislature, a written report showing all
27 the taxable property in the state and the value of the same,
Page 7 1 in tabulated form, with recommendations for improvements in
2 the system of taxation in the state, together with suggestions
3 of such measures as the department may formulate for the
4 consideration of the Legislature in regard thereto.
5 "(13) To, for good reason shown and entered on the
6 minutes of the department, do either of the following:
7 "a. Extend the time for filing any report or written
8 statement required to be filed with the department.
9 "b. Temporarily waive the motor fuel importer,
10 exporter, or transporter licensing requirements under Section
11 40-17-332, during a state of emergency or disaster. A waiver
12 authorized by this subdivision shall be effective only for
13 persons importing, exporting, or transporting motor fuel to
14 areas within a state or territory of the United States for
15 which the President of the United States or the governor of
16 that state or territory has declared a state of emergency or
17 disaster, and only where the import, export, or transport
18 takes place during the time the declaration is in effect. A
19 temporary waiver of the motor fuel importer, exporter, or
20 transporter licensing requirements under this subdivision
21 shall not be construed to permit any waiver of any additional
22 requirements or payment of any taxes due under the Alabama
23 Terminal Excise Tax.
24 "c. Temporarily waive the requirements associated
25 with the International Registration Plan under Section 32-6-56
26 and the International Fuel Tax Agreement under Section
27 40-17-272, during a state of emergency or disaster. A waiver
Page 8 1 authorized by this subdivision shall be effective only for
2 motor vehicles engaged in interstate disaster relief efforts
3 traveling to areas within a state or territory of the United
4 States for which the President of the United States or
5 Governor of that state or territory has declared a state of
6 emergency or disaster, and only when the travel takes place
7 during the time the declaration is in effect. A temporary
8 waiver of the requirements under the International
9 Registration Plan or International Fuel Tax Agreement under
10 this subdivision shall not be construed to allow a motor
11 vehicle to operate in the State of Alabama without valid
12 registration and insurance from its base state, nor allow any
13 motor vehicle to exceed weight limits posted for bridges and
14 like structures, or relieve any vehicle or the carrier, owner,
15 or driver of any vehicle from compliance with any other
16 restrictions, statutes, orders, or other legal requirements.
17 "(14) To inspect and examine at all reasonable
18 business hours any books, documents, records, or papers kept
19 by any person, firm, corporation, trustee, or receiver.
20 "(15) To make all assessments of taxes or penalties
21 which it is authorized to enforce or collect and report the
22 same to the Attorney General.
23 "(16) To issue executions and writs of garnishment
24 by certified or standard mail on any final assessment or
25 judgment made or rendered by the department; or to issue
26 executions or writs of garnishment directed to any sheriff of
27 Alabama, on any final assessment or judgment made or rendered
Page 9 1 by it the department, and upon such executions the sheriff
2 shall proceed as in cases issued out of the circuit court and
3 shall make return thereof to it the department within 60 days
4 after the receipt thereof.
5 "(17) To perform such other duties as are or may be
6 imposed on it by law.
7 "(b) The department may adopt rules for the
8 implementation and administration of this section."
9 Section 2. This act shall become effective
10 immediately following its passage and approval by the
11 Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
Page 10