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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to tax credits for investment in rural 2
communities; creating s. 288.062, F.S.; providing a 3
short title; providing definitions ; requiring the 4
Department of Commerce to accept applications for 5
approval as rural funds in a specified manner; 6
requiring certain information to be submitted in an 7
application; requiring the department to approve or 8
deny applications within a specified ti meframe; 9
prohibiting the department from approving more than a 10
certain amount of investment authority; requiring the 11
department to deny applications under certain 12
circumstances; authorizing an applicant whose 13
application was denied to provide additional 14
information within a certain timeframe to cure defects 15
in the application; requiring the department to review 16
and reconsider such applications within a certain 17
timeframe; prohibiting the department from reducing 18
the investment authority of an application or denying 19
an application unless certain circumstances are met; 20
requiring the department to certify approved 21
applications; providing requirements for certified 22
rural funds; requiring the department to provide a tax 23
credit certificate to certain taxpayers; req uiring the 24
department to revoke a rural fund's certification 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
under specified conditions; requiring the department 26
to distribute revoked investment authority among 27
certain rural funds; authorizing rural funds to 28
allocate associated investor contribution aut hority to 29
certain taxpayers; granting a credit against state tax 30
liability for specified investors; providing 31
restrictions on the credit; requiring that taxpayers 32
claiming a credit submit a copy of the tax credit 33
certificate with their tax return; requirin g the 34
department to revoke a tax credit certificate under 35
certain circumstances; authorizing rural funds to 36
request certain determinations from the department; 37
specifying a timeframe within which rural funds may 38
correct violations to avoid revocation of a tax credit 39
certificate; authorizing the department to distribute 40
reverted investment authority among certain rural 41
funds; authorizing rural funds to submit an exit 42
application; providing a timeframe and procedures for 43
use by the department in handling exit applications; 44
prohibiting the department from revoking a rural 45
fund's tax credit certificate after it exits the 46
program; requiring rural funds to submit an annual 47
report to the department beginning on a date certain ; 48
requiring that the annual report inclu de certain 49
information; prohibiting applications from being 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
accepted after a date certain; providing an effective 51
date. 52
53
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 54
55
Section 1. Section 288.062, Florida Statutes, is created 56
to read: 57
288.062 Florida Rural Jobs Act. — 58
(1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Rural Jobs 59
Act." 60
(2) As used in this section the term: 61
(a) "Affiliate" means an entity that directly, or 62
indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is 63
controlled by, or is under common control with another entity. 64
For the purposes of this paragraph, an entity is controlled by 65
another entity if the controlling entity holds, directly or 66
indirectly, the majority voting or ownership interest in the 67
controlled entity or has control over the day -to-day operations 68
of the controlled entity. 69
(b) "Credit allowance date" means the date on which the 70
department provides a tax credit certificate under paragraph 71
(8)(a). 72
(c) "Department" means the Department of Commerce. 73
(d) "Eligible business" means a business that, at the time 74
a rural fund initially invests in the business: 75
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1. Has fewer than 2 50 employees; and 76
2. Has its principal business operations in this state . 77
(e) "Eligible investment" means any capital or equity 78
investment in an eligible business or any loan to a n eligible 79
business with a stated maturity at least 1 year after the date 80
of issuance. 81
(f) "Investment authority" means the amount certified by 82
the department under subsection (7). 83
(g) "Investor contribution" means a cash investment in a 84
rural fund. The cash investment shall purchase an equity 85
interest in the rural fund or purchase at par value or premium a 86
debt instrument that has a maturity date at least 7 years after 87
the credit allowance date and a repayment schedule that is no 88
greater than level principal amortization over 7 years. 89
(h) "Jobs retained" means the number of full -time high-90
wage employment positions that existed before the initial 91
eligible investment in an eligible business and for which the 92
eligible business' chief executive officer or similar officer 93
certifies that the employment positions would have been 94
eliminated but for the initial eligible investment. 95
(i) "Principal business operatio n" means the location or 96
locations at which at least 60 percent of a business' employees 97
work or at which the employees who are paid at least 60 percent 98
of the business' payroll are located. A business that agrees to 99
relocate or hire new employees using th e proceeds of an eligible 100
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investment to establish its principal business operation in this 101
state is deemed to have its principal business operations in the 102
new location, provided the business satisfies this definition 103
within 180 days after receiving the eligible investment. 104
(j) "Rural fund" means an entity certified by the 105
department under subsection (7). 106
(k) "State tax" means a tax identified in chapter 220, s. 107
624.509, or s. 624.5091. 108
(3) On or before November 1, 2025, the department shall 109
accept applications for approval as a rural fund on a form 110
adopted by the department. The application shall include the 111
following: 112
(a) The total investment authority sought by the 113
applicant. 114
(b) Evidence that the applicant or an affiliate of the 115
applicant is licensed as a rural business investment company 116
under 7 U.S.C. s. 2009cc or as a small business investment 117
company under 15 U.S.C. s. 681. The applicant or the affiliate 118
must include a certificate executed by an executive offi cer of 119
the applicant attesting that such license remains in effect and 120
has not been revoked . 121
(c) Evidence that, as of the date the application is 122
submitted, the applicant or affiliates of the applicant have 123
invested at least $100 million in nonpublic com panies located in 124
counties within the United States with a population of fewer 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
than 75,000 as of the United States Decennial Census of 2010. 126
(d) An estimate of the total number of new annual jobs 127
that will be created and jobs that will be retained over t he 128
life of the program in this state because of the applicant's 129
eligible investments. 130
(e) A business plan that includes a revenue impact 131
assessment projecting state and local tax revenues to be 132
generated, as well as state expenditures to be reduced, by t he 133
applicant's proposed eligible investments, prepared by a 134
nationally recognized third - party independent economic 135
forecasting firm using a dynamic economic forecasting model that 136
analyzes the applicant's business plan over the 10 years after 137
the date the application is submitted to the department. 138
(4)(a) Within 30 days after receipt of a completed 139
application the department shall approve or deny the 140
application. 141
(b) The department shall deem applications that are 142
received on the same day as having bee n received simultaneously. 143
If requests for investment authority exceed th e remaining tax 144
credit limitation under paragraph (c), the department shall 145
proportionally reduce the investment authority and the investor 146
contributions for each approved application that day to avoid 147
exceeding the limit. 148
(c) The department shall approve investment authority up 149
to an amount that would allow no more than $ 7.143 million in tax 150
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credits to be taken in any one year, excluding any credits 151
carried forward pursuant to parag raph (10)(c). 152
(5) The department shall deny an application if: 153
(a) The application is incomplete . 154
(b) The applicant does not satisfy the criteria set forth 155
in subsection (3). 156
(c) The revenue impact assessment submitted under 157
paragraph (3)(e) does not demonstrate that the applicant's 158
business plan will result in a positive revenue impact on this 159
state over a 10-year period which exceeds the cumulative amount 160
of tax credits that would be issued to the applicant's 161
investors. 162
(d) The department has a lready approved the maximum amount 163
of investment authority and investor contributions allowed under 164
subsection (4). 165
(6) If the department denies an application, the 166
applicant, within 15 days after the denial, may provide 167
additional information to the dep artment to cure any defects in 168
the application identified by the department. The department 169
shall review and reconsider such applications within 15 days 170
after receipt and before approving any pending applications 171
submitted after the original submission dat e of the reconsidered 172
application. 173
(7) The department shall not reduce the requested 174
investment authority or deny a rural fund application for 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
reasons other than those described in subsection (4) or 176
subsection (5). After approving an application, the department 177
shall certify: 178
(a) The applicant as a rural fund. 179
(b) The amount of the applicant's investment authority . 180
(8)(a) Within 90 days after receiving the certification 181
issued under subsection (7), the rural fund shall collect all 182
investor contributions and collect additional investments of 183
cash which, when added to the investor contributions, at least 184
equal the rural fund's investment authority. Within 95 days 185
after receiving the certification issued under s ubsection (7), 186
the rural fund shall send to the department documentation that 187
the rural fund has collected the amounts described in this 188
subsection. At least 10 percent of the rural fund's investment 189
authority must consist of equity investments contributed by 190
affiliates of the rural fund. The rural fund shall report to the 191
department the date on which the investor contributions and 192
additional investments of cash were collected. 193
(b) Upon receipt of the documentation required by 194
paragraph (a), the departmen t shall provide to each taxpayer who 195
has made an investor contribution in the amount of the investor 196
contribution a tax credit certificate . 197
(9) If the rural fund fails to comply with subsection (8), 198
the department shall revoke the rural fund's certification and 199
the corresponding investment authority and investor 200
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contributions will not count toward the limits on the program 201
size set forth in subsection (4). The department shall first 202
award revoked investment authority pro rata to each rural fund 203
that was awarded less than the investment authority for which it 204
applied, and a rural fund may allocate the associated investor 205
contribution authority to any taxpayer with state tax liability 206
in its discretion. Any remaining investment authority may be 207
awarded by the department to new applicants. 208
(10)(a) Any taxpayer that makes an investor contribution 209
is vested with an earned credit against state tax liability 210
equal to that investor's investor contribution. The credit may 211
be used over 7 years such that 7.14 percent of the credit is 212
applied in each of the taxable years that includes the year of 213
the credit allowance date through the fourth anniversary of the 214
credit allowance date, unless a specific request is made to 215
carry forward the credit allowance for a period not to exceed 10 216
years. 217
(b) The credit is nonrefundable and may not be sold, 218
transferred, or allocated to any other entity other than an 219
affiliate that was an affiliate at the time of the submission of 220
the investor's affidavit included in the rural fund's 221
application. 222
(c) The amount of the credit claimed by a taxpayer may not 223
exceed the amount of such taxpayer's state tax liability for the 224
tax year for which the credit is claimed. 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(d) A taxpayer claiming a credit under this section shall 226
submit a copy of the tax credit certificate with the taxpayer's 227
return for each taxable year for which the credit is claimed. 228
(11) The department must revoke the tax credit 229
certificates issued under paragraph (8)(b) if any of the 230
following occurs with respect to a rural fund before the rural 231
fund exits the program in accordance with paragraph (1 5): 232
(a) The rural fund does not invest 60 percent of its 233
investment authority in eligible investments in this state 234
within 2 years after the credit allowance date. 235
(b) The rural fund does not invest 100 percent of its 236
investment authority in eligible investments in this state 237
within 3 years after the credit allowance date. 238
(c) The rural fund, after initially satisfying paragraph 239
(b), fails to maintain eligible investments equal to 100 percent 240
of its investment authority until the sixth anniversary of the 241
credit allowance date. For purposes of this paragraph, an 242
investment is maintained even if it is sold or repaid, so long 243
as the rural fund reinvests an amount equal to the capital 244
returned or recovered from the original investment, exclusive of 245
any profits realized, in other eligible investments in this 246
state within 12 months after the receipt of such capital. 247
Amounts received periodically by a rural fund shall be treated 248
as continuously invested in eligible investments if the amounts 249
are reinvested in one or more eligible investments by the end of 250
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the following calendar year ; however, there is no requirement to 251
reinvest capital after the sixth anniversary for purposes of 252
eligibility under this paragraph. 253
(d) The rural fund, before exiting the program in 254
accordance with paragraph (1 5) or 30 days after the seventh 255
anniversary of the credit allowance date , makes a distribution 256
or payment that results in the rural fund having less than 100 257
percent of its investment authority invested in eligible 258
investments in this state or available for investment in 259
eligible investments and held in cash and other marketable 260
securities. 261
(e) The rural fund invests in an eligible business that 262
directly, or indirectly through an affiliate, owns, has the 263
right to acquire an ownership interest in, makes a loan to, or 264
makes an investment in the rural fund of an affiliate of the 265
rural fund or an investor in the rural fund. 266
267
The department in its sole discretion may, upon request, and if 268
the department believes that the investment aligns with the 269
purposes of this section, allow paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) be 270
satisfied by investments in businesses that are not eligible 271
businesses or located in nonrural areas. 272
(12) Before making a n eligible investment, a rural fund 273
may request a written opinion from the department as to whether 274
the business in which it proposes to invest satisfies the 275
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definition of an eligible business. The department, not later 276
than the 15th business day after the date of receipt of the 277
request, shall provide the rural fund with a determination 278
letter providing its opinion. If the department fails to issue a 279
determination letter by the 15th business day, the business in 280
which the rural fund proposes to invest shall be considered a n 281
eligible business. 282
(13) Before revoking a tax credit certificate under 283
subsection (11), the department shall notify the rural fund of 284
the reasons for the pending revocation. The rural fund shall 285
have 180 days after the date the notice was received to correct 286
any violation outlined in the notice to the satisfaction of the 287
department and avoid revocation of the tax credit certificate. 288
(14) If the department revokes any tax credit certificates 289
under subsection (11), the associated investment authority and 290
investor contributions shall not count toward the limit on total 291
investment authority and investor contributions described in 292
subsection (4). The department must award any remaining 293
investment authority to restore any reduction under paragraph 294
(4)(b). 295
(15) On or after the seventh anniversary of the credit 296
allowance date, a rural fund may apply to the department to exit 297
the program and no longer be subject to regulation. The 298
department shall approve or den y the application within 15 days 299
after receipt. In evaluating the application, the fact that no 300
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tax credit certificates have been revoked and that the rural 301
fund has not received a notice of revocation that has not been 302
cured pursuant to subsection (1 3) is sufficient evidence to 303
prove that the rural fund is eligible for exit. The department 304
shall not unreasonably deny an application submitted under this 305
subsection. If the application is denied, the notice shall 306
include the reasons for the determination. 307
(16) The department may not revoke a tax credit 308
certificate after a rural fund exits the program. 309
(17)(a) Each rural fund shall submit to the department a 310
report on or before the 15th business day after the second and 311
third anniversaries of the credit allowance date which provides 312
documentation has invested the amounts required in paragraphs 313
(11)(a) and (b). Such report shall also include: 314
1. The name and location of each eligible business 315
receiving an eligible investment, including either the 316
determination letter under subsection (12) or evidence that the 317
business qualified as a n eligible business at the time the 318
investment was made, if not previously reported . 319
2. A bank statement evidencing each eligible investment, 320
if not previously reported . 321
3. The number of jobs created and retained as a result of 322
each eligible investment, and the average salary of each 323
position. 324
4. Any other information required by the department. 325
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(b) On or before March 1 of the subsequent calendar year 326
after the final report required in paragraph (a), and annually 327
until its exit from the program in accordance with paragraph 328
(15), the rural fund shall submit to the department a report 329
that identifies each eligible investment made by the rural fund 330
and shall include: 331
1. The number of jobs created and retained as a result of 332
the eligible investment, and the annual salary of each position. 333
2. Any other information required by the department. 334
(18) The department may not accept any new applications 335
after December 1, 2034. 336
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 337