82S10137 CJC-D
By: Ellis, Davis, Lucio S.B. No. 38
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain discounts and reimbursements allowed for
payment of sales and use taxes and the allocation of certain revenue
from those taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 151.423, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 151.423. REIMBURSEMENT TO TAXPAYER FOR TAX
COLLECTIONS. Subject to Section 151.4231, a [A] taxpayer may
deduct and withhold three-fourths [one-half] of one percent of the
amount of taxes due from the taxpayer on a timely return as
reimbursement for the cost of collecting the taxes imposed by this
chapter. [The comptroller shall provide a card with each form
distributed for the collection of taxes under this chapter. The
card may be inserted by the taxpayer with the tax payment to provide
for contribution of all or part of the reimbursement provided by
this section for use as grants under Subchapter M, Chapter 56,
Education Code. If the taxpayer chooses to contribute the
reimbursement for the grants, the taxpayer shall include the amount
of the reimbursement contribution with the tax payment. The
comptroller shall transfer money contributed under this section for
grants under Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code, to the
appropriate fund.]
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 151.4231 to read as follows:
Sec. 151.4231. LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF REIMBURSEMENT. (a)
The amount deducted and withheld by a taxpayer under Section
151.423 may not exceed:
(1) $312.50 each month if the taxpayer files monthly;
(2) $937.50 each quarter if the taxpayer files
quarterly under Section 151.401(b); and
(3) $3,750 each state fiscal year.
(b) The comptroller shall adopt rules for determining to
which state fiscal month, quarter, and year amounts deducted and
withheld by a taxpayer under Section 151.423 will be allocated for
purposes of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 151.424, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (e), and (f)
to read as follows:
(a) In addition to the amount permitted to be deducted and
withheld under Section 151.423, a [A] taxpayer who prepays the
taxpayer's tax liability on the basis of a reasonable estimate of
the tax liability for a quarter in which a prepayment is made or for
a month in which a prepayment is made may deduct and withhold the
lesser of the following, as determined by the comptroller under
Subsection (e):
(1) 1.25 percent of the amount of the prepayment; or
(2) an annually adjusted percentage of the amount of
the prepayment that yields an annualized rate of return equal to the
prime rate as published in The Wall Street Journal on the first
business day of each calendar year, plus four percent [in addition
to the amount permitted to be deducted and withheld under Section
151.423 of this code].
(a-1) A reasonable estimate of the tax liability under
Subsection (a) must be at least 90 percent of the tax ultimately due
or the amount of tax paid in the same quarter, or month, if a monthly
prepayer, in the last preceding year. Failure to prepay a
reasonable estimate of the tax will result in the loss of the entire
prepayment discount.
(e) Not later than January 5 of each year, the comptroller
shall:
(1) determine the percentage of a taxpayer's
prepayment that may be deducted and withheld under Subsection (a);
and
(2) publish the percentage determined under this
subsection on the comptroller's Internet website.
(f) The percentage determined under Subsection (e) applies
to a deduction and withholding from a prepayment of tax liability
that a taxpayer makes on or after January 15 of the year the
comptroller makes the determination and before January 15 of the
succeeding year.
SECTION 4. Section 151.801, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) to
read as follows:
(a) Except for the amounts allocated under Subsections
(a-1), (a-2), (b), and (c), all proceeds from the collection of the
taxes imposed by this chapter shall be deposited to the credit of
the general revenue fund.
(a-1) The comptroller shall calculate the difference
between the amount of the proceeds from the collection of the taxes
imposed by this chapter that, in the absence of the limitation on
reimbursements specified by Section 151.4231, taxpayers would
deduct and withhold under Section 151.423 at the percentage in
effect under that section on January 1, 2011, and the amount that
taxpayers actually deduct and withhold under Section 151.423 after
applying the limitation specified by Section 151.4231. The
comptroller shall deposit an amount equal to that difference to an
account in the general revenue fund. Money in the account may be
appropriated only to provide grants under Subchapter M, Chapter 56,
Education Code.
(a-2) If the percentage determined under Section
151.424(a)(2) applies in determining the amount a taxpayer may
deduct and withhold under Section 151.424 from taxes imposed by
this chapter, the comptroller shall determine the difference
between the amount the taxpayer would deduct and withhold if the
percentage under Section 151.424(a)(1) applied and the amount the
taxpayer actually deducts and withholds under Section
151.424(a)(2). The comptroller shall deposit an amount equal to
that difference in an account in the general revenue fund. Money in
the account may be appropriated only to provide grants under
Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code.
SECTION 5. The comptroller of public accounts shall make
the initial determination required by Section 151.424(e), Tax Code,
as added by this Act, not later than January 5, 2012.
SECTION 6. Section 151.423, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, applies to a tax report due on or after the effective date of
this Act. A tax report due before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the tax report was due, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. Section 151.424, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, applies to a prepayment of tax liability made on or after
January 15, 2012. A prepayment of tax liability made before January
15, 2012, is governed by the law in effect immediately preceding the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. 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 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011, if this
Act 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 this Act to take
effect on that date, this Act takes effect October 1, 2011.