| 1 | 1 | | 81R2611 KLA-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 508 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to a study of the effect on this state's economy of |
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| 8 | 8 | | replacing all state and school district ad valorem tax revenue with |
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| 9 | 9 | | revenue from a transaction tax. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. (a) The comptroller shall conduct a study to |
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| 12 | 12 | | determine the effect on this state's economy of imposing a |
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| 13 | 13 | | transaction tax that: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (1) taxes every transaction that occurs in this state; |
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| 15 | 15 | | and |
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| 16 | 16 | | (2) is electronically collected by financial |
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| 17 | 17 | | institutions using banking data systems that are used in other |
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| 18 | 18 | | economies for that purpose. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (b) Before collecting information for purposes of the |
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| 20 | 20 | | study, the comptroller shall seek assistance from leading experts |
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| 21 | 21 | | on automated payment transaction taxes to establish parameters, |
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| 22 | 22 | | information collection techniques, and reasonable legal |
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| 23 | 23 | | assumptions for the study. Experts from whom the comptroller must |
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| 24 | 24 | | seek assistance include: |
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| 25 | 25 | | (1) persons who pioneered the concept of the |
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| 26 | 26 | | transaction tax; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2) persons who direct national projects on |
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| 28 | 28 | | transaction taxes; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (3) a professor of law and a professor of economics |
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| 30 | 30 | | from public institutions of higher education in this state. |
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| 31 | 31 | | (c) The comptroller shall use the parameters, techniques, |
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| 32 | 32 | | and legal assumptions established under Subsection (b) of this |
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| 33 | 33 | | section to determine the tax base available for a transaction tax by |
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| 34 | 34 | | collecting information from financial institutions in this state. |
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| 35 | 35 | | Information collected must include statistics regarding the total |
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| 36 | 36 | | number of debits that occur during a prescribed period from |
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| 37 | 37 | | accounts at those institutions that are held by residents of this |
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| 38 | 38 | | state or by businesses domiciled in this state. The comptroller has |
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| 39 | 39 | | the authority to collect, and, notwithstanding any other law, those |
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| 40 | 40 | | institutions shall provide, the information described by this |
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| 41 | 41 | | subsection. |
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| 42 | 42 | | (d) The comptroller may not incur costs in excess of |
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| 43 | 43 | | $200,000 in conducting the study. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (e) The comptroller and the persons described by Subsection |
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| 45 | 45 | | (b) of this section shall analyze the information collected under |
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| 46 | 46 | | Subsection (c) of this section and prepare a report that: |
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| 47 | 47 | | (1) describes the parameters, techniques, and legal |
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| 48 | 48 | | assumptions established under Subsection (b) of this section that |
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| 49 | 49 | | were used in conducting the study; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) estimates the tax base available for a transaction |
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| 51 | 51 | | tax, based on information collected under Subsection (c) of this |
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| 52 | 52 | | section; |
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| 53 | 53 | | (3) states the transaction tax rate necessary to |
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| 54 | 54 | | achieve revenue neutrality, assuming that the transaction tax was |
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| 55 | 55 | | imposed at that rate and all other state taxes and school district |
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| 56 | 56 | | ad valorem taxes were abolished; and |
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| 57 | 57 | | (4) analyzes the effects on this state's economy of |
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| 58 | 58 | | imposing the transaction tax at the rate specified by Subdivision |
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| 59 | 59 | | (3) of this subsection and abolishing all other state taxes and |
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| 60 | 60 | | school district ad valorem taxes. |
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| 61 | 61 | | (f) Not later than July 1, 2010, the comptroller shall |
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| 62 | 62 | | submit to the legislature the report prepared under Subsection (e) |
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| 63 | 63 | | of this section. |
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| 64 | 64 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 65 | 65 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 66 | 66 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 67 | 67 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 68 | 68 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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