S.B. No. 958
AN ACT
relating to an exemption from the sales and use tax for certain
aircraft, including machinery and equipment used in an agricultural
aircraft operation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 151.316, Tax Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The following items are exempted from the taxes imposed
by this chapter:
(1) horses, mules, and work animals;
(2) animal life the products of which ordinarily
constitute food for human consumption;
(3) feed for farm and ranch animals;
(4) feed for animals that are held for sale in the
regular course of business;
(5) seeds and annual plants the products of which:
(A) ordinarily constitute food for human
consumption;
(B) are to be sold in the regular course of
business; or
(C) are used to produce feed for animals exempted
by this section;
(6) fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides,
herbicides, defoliants, and desiccants exclusively used or
employed on a farm or ranch in the production of:
(A) food for human consumption;
(B) feed for animal life; or
(C) other agricultural products to be sold in the
regular course of business;
(7) machinery and equipment exclusively used or
employed on a farm or ranch in the building or maintaining of roads
or water facilities or in the production of:
(A) food for human consumption;
(B) grass;
(C) feed for animal life; or
(D) other agricultural products to be sold in the
regular course of business;
(8) machinery and equipment exclusively used in, and
pollution control equipment required as a result of, the
processing, packing, or marketing of agricultural products by an
original producer at a location operated by the original producer
for processing, packing, or marketing the producer's own products
if:
(A) 50 percent or more of the products processed,
packed, or marketed at or from the location are produced by the
original producer and not purchased or acquired from others; and
(B) the producer does not process, pack, or
market for consideration any agricultural products that belong to
other persons in an amount greater than five percent of the total
agricultural products processed, packed, or marketed by the
producer; [and]
(9) ice exclusively used by commercial fishing boats
in the storing of aquatic species including but not limited to
shrimp, other crustaceans, finfish, mollusks, and other similar
creatures; and
(10) machinery and equipment exclusively used in an
agricultural aircraft operation, as defined by 14 C.F.R. Section
137.3.
SECTION 2. Section 151.328, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read
as follows:
(a) Aircraft are exempted from the taxes imposed by this
chapter if:
(1) sold to a person using the aircraft as a
certificated or licensed carrier of persons or property;
(2) sold to a person who:
(A) has a sales tax permit issued under this
chapter; and
(B) uses the aircraft for the purpose of
providing flight instruction that is:
(i) recognized by the Federal Aviation
Administration;
(ii) under the direct or general
supervision of a flight instructor certified by the Federal
Aviation Administration; and
(iii) designed to lead to a pilot
certificate or rating issued by the Federal Aviation Administration
or otherwise required by a rule or regulation of the Federal
Aviation Administration;
(3) sold to a foreign government; [or]
(4) sold in this state to a person for use and
registration in another state or nation before any use in this state
other than flight training in the aircraft and the transportation
of the aircraft out of this state; or
(5) sold in this state to a person for use exclusively
in connection with an agricultural use, as defined by Section
23.51, and used for:
(A) predator control;
(B) wildlife or livestock capture;
(C) wildlife or livestock surveys;
(D) census counts of wildlife or livestock;
(E) animal or plant health inspection services;
or
(F) crop dusting, pollination, or seeding.
(b) Repair, remodeling, and maintenance services to
aircraft, including an engine or other component part of aircraft,
operated by a person described by Subsection (a)(1), [or] (a)(2),
or (a)(5) are exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter.
(h) For purposes of the exemption under Subsection (a)(5),
an aircraft is considered to be for use exclusively in connection
with an agricultural use if 95 percent of the use of the aircraft is
for a purpose described by Subsections (a)(5)(A)-(F). Travel of
less than 30 miles each way to a location to perform a service
described by Subsections (a)(5)(A)-(F) does not disqualify an
aircraft from the exemption under Subsection (a)(5). A person who
claims an exemption under Subsection (a)(5) must maintain and make
available to the comptroller flight records for all uses of the
aircraft.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
151.328, Tax Code, are a clarification of existing law and do not
imply that the former law may be construed as inconsistent with the
law as amended by this Act.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act does not
affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this
Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been
enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
the liability for those taxes.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 958 passed the Senate on
May 7, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 30, 2009, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 958 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor