83R8297 KLA-D By: Leach H.B. No. 2370 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to an exemption from the franchise tax for a limited period following the relocation of a taxable entity to this state from another state. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 171.0001(4), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows: (4) "Beginning date" means: (A) for a taxable entity chartered or organized in this state, the date on which the taxable entity's charter or organization takes effect; and (B) for any other taxable entity: (i) [,] the date on which the taxable entity begins doing business in this state; or (ii) if the taxable entity concurrently begins doing business in this state and relocates its main office or other principal place of business to this state from another state, the third anniversary of the date on which the taxable entity begins doing business in this state. SECTION 2. Section 171.001, Tax Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: (d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the tax imposed under this chapter is not imposed on a taxable entity that is chartered or organized under the laws of the United States or another state and that concurrently begins doing business in this state and relocates its main office or other principal place of business to this state from another state until the third anniversary of the date on which the taxable entity begins doing business in this state. SECTION 3. Section 171.063(g), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows: (g) If a corporation's federal tax exemption is withdrawn by the Internal Revenue Service for failure of the corporation to qualify or maintain its qualification for the exemption, the corporation's exemption under this section ends on the effective date of that withdrawal by the Internal Revenue Service. The effective date of the withdrawal is considered the corporation's beginning date for purposes of determining the corporation's privilege periods and for all other purposes of this chapter, except that if the corporation would have been subject to Section 171.001(d) or exempted from the franchise tax under Section 171.089 in the absence of the federal tax exemption, and the effective date of the withdrawal is a date earlier than the date the corporation would have become subject to the franchise tax as provided by Section 171.001(d) or Section 171.089, as applicable, the date the corporation would have become subject to the franchise tax under the applicable provision is considered the corporation's beginning date for those purposes. SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 171, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 171.089 to read as follows: Sec. 171.089. EXEMPTION FOR LIMITED PERIOD: CERTAIN ENTITIES RELOCATING TO TEXAS. (a) A taxable entity is exempted from the franchise tax for a period of three years if the taxable entity: (1) is chartered or organized under the laws of the United States or another state; (2) has been doing business in this state; and (3) had its main office or principal place of business located in another state but relocates that main office or other principal place of business to this state. (b) The three-year period during which a taxable entity is exempted from the franchise tax as provided by this section begins on January 1 of the year following the date the relocation of the main office or other principal place of business is completed, as defined by comptroller rules, and ends on the third anniversary of that date. SECTION 5. Section 171.204, Tax Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: (d) The comptroller may require a taxable entity on which the tax imposed under this chapter is not imposed solely because of the application of Section 171.001(d) to file an information report stating the taxable entity's beginning date as determined under Section 171.0001(4)(B)(ii). The comptroller may require a taxable entity exempted from the franchise tax solely because of the application of Section 171.089 to file an information report stating the date the relocation of the taxable entity's main office or other principal place of business was completed, as defined by comptroller rules. The comptroller may require the report to include other information the comptroller determines necessary, except that the comptroller may not require the taxable entity to report or compute its margin. SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies to a taxable entity doing business in this state before, on, or after the effective date of this Act. (b) A taxable entity on which the tax under Chapter 171, Tax Code, was imposed before the effective date of this Act, but on which the tax is not imposed on the effective date of this Act because of the application of Section 171.001(d) or 171.089, Tax Code, as added by this Act, is not entitled to a refund of or credit for taxes paid under Chapter 171, Tax Code, before the effective date of this Act. SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.