By: Villarreal (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 533
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011;
April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Finance; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 12, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rendition of property for ad valorem tax purposes
and to the protest of a penalty imposed for a failure to timely file
a rendition statement or property report.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.01, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b), a person is not
required to render for taxation personal property appraised under
Section 23.24.
SECTION 2. Sections 22.28 and 22.30, Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 22.28. PENALTY FOR DELINQUENT REPORT; PENALTY
COLLECTION PROCEDURES. (a) Except as otherwise provided by
Section 22.30, the chief appraiser shall impose a penalty on a
person who fails to timely file a rendition statement or property
report required by this chapter in an amount equal to 10 percent of
the total amount of taxes imposed on the property for that year by
taxing units participating in the appraisal district. The chief
appraiser shall deliver by first class mail a notice of the
imposition of the penalty to the person. The notice may be
delivered with a notice of appraised value provided under Section
25.19, if practicable.
(b) The chief appraiser shall certify to the assessor for
each taxing unit participating in the appraisal district that
imposes taxes on the property that a penalty imposed under this
chapter has become final [the chief appraiser has imposed a penalty
under this section]. The assessor shall add the amount of the
penalty to the original amount of tax imposed on the property and
shall include that amount in the tax bill for that year. The
penalty becomes part of the tax on the property and is secured by
the tax lien that attaches to the property under Section 32.01.
(c) A penalty under this chapter becomes final if:
(1) the property owner does not protest under Section
22.30 the imposition of the penalty before the appraisal review
board;
(2) the appraisal review board determines a protest
brought by the property owner under Section 22.30 by denying a
waiver of the penalty and the property owner does not bring an
appeal under Chapter 42 or the judgment of the district court
sustaining the determination subsequently becomes final; or
(3) a court imposes the penalty under Section 22.29
and the order of the court imposing the penalty subsequently
becomes final.
(d) To help defray the costs of administering this chapter,
a collector who collects a penalty imposed under Subsection (a)
shall remit to the appraisal district that employs the chief
appraiser who imposed the penalty an amount equal to five percent of
the penalty amount collected.
Sec. 22.30. WAIVER OF PENALTY. (a) The chief appraiser
may waive the penalty imposed by Section 22.28 [or 22.29] if the
chief appraiser determines that the person exercised reasonable
diligence to comply with or has substantially complied with the
requirements of this chapter. A written request, accompanied by
supporting documentation, stating the grounds on which penalties
should be waived must be sent to the chief appraiser before June 1
or not later than the 30th day after the date the person received
notification of the imposition of the penalty, whichever is later.
The chief appraiser shall make a determination of the penalty
waiver request:
(1) based on the information submitted; and
(2) after consideration of the factors described by
Subsection (b).
(a-1) If the chief appraiser denies the penalty waiver
request, the chief appraiser shall deliver by first class mail
written notice of the denial to the property owner. The property
owner may protest the imposition of the penalty before the
appraisal review board. To initiate a protest, the property owner
must file written notice of the protest with the appraisal review
board before June 1 or not later than the 30th day after the date the
property owner receives the notice of denial, whichever is later.
(b) The appraisal review board [chief appraiser] shall
determine the protest [notify the person of the chief appraiser's
determination regarding the penalty waiver request] after
considering:
(1) the person's compliance history with respect to
paying taxes and filing statements or reports;
(2) the type, nature, and taxability of the specific
property involved;
(3) the type, nature, size, and sophistication of the
person's business or other entity for which property is rendered;
(4) the completeness of the person's records;
(5) the person's reliance on advice provided by the
appraisal district that may have contributed to the person's
failure to comply and the imposition of the penalty;
(6) any change in appraisal district policy during the
current or preceding tax year that may affect how property is
rendered; and
(7) any other factors that may have caused the person
to fail to timely file a statement or report.
(c) The procedures for a [A property owner is entitled to]
protest before the appraisal review board under this section are
governed by the procedures for a taxpayer protest under Subchapter
C, Chapter 41. The property owner is entitled to appeal under
Chapter 42 an order of the appraisal review board determining a
protest brought under this section [the failure or refusal of a
chief appraiser to waive a penalty under Subsection (a)].
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
the chief appraiser and a protesting property owner may enter into a
settlement agreement on the matter being protested, if both parties
agree that there was a mistake.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a penalty that is imposed under Section 22.28, Tax Code, on or
after the effective date of this Act. A penalty that was imposed
under that section before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the penalty was imposed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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