H.B. No. 3169
AN ACT
relating to the imposition of the sales and use tax on certain
taxable items.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 151.0565(a)(1) and (2), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Destination management services" means the
following services [when provided under a qualified destination
management services contract]:
(A) transportation vehicle management;
(B) booking and managing entertainers;
(C) coordination of tours or recreational
activities;
(D) meeting, conference, or event registration;
(E) meeting, conference, transportation, or
event staffing;
(F) event management; [and]
(G) meal coordination;
(H) shuttle system services, including vehicle
staging, radio communications, signage, and routing services; and
(I) airport meet-and-greet services, including
the provision of airport permits, manifest management services,
porterage, and passenger greeting services.
(2) "Qualified destination management company" means
a business entity that:
(A) is incorporated or is a limited liability
company;
(B) receives at least 80 percent of the entity's
annual total revenue from providing or arranging for the provision
of a combination of at least six destination management services;
(C) maintains a permanent nonresidential office
from which the destination management services are provided or
arranged;
(D) has at least three full-time employees;
(E) maintains a general liability insurance
policy with a limit of at least $1 million [spends at least one
percent of the entity's annual gross receipts to market the
destinations with respect to which destination management services
are provided];
(F) during the preceding tax year, had [has] at
least 80 percent of the entity's client contracts for:
(i) clients from [described by Subdivision
(3)(A) located] outside this state who were determined by a
contracting entity outside this state; or
(ii) clients from outside this state who
were program attendees staying in a hotel in this state;
(G) other than office equipment used in the
conduct of the entity's business, does not own equipment used to
directly provide destination management services, including motor
coaches, limousines, sedans, dance floors, decorative props,
lighting, podiums, sound or video equipment, or equipment for
catered meals;
(H) does not prepare or serve beverages, meals,
or other food products, but may procure catering services on behalf
of the entity's clients [is not doing business as a caterer];
(I) does not provide services for weddings;
(J) does not own or operate a venue at which
events or activities for which destination management services are
provided occur; and
(K) [is not a subsidiary of another entity that,
and] is not a member of an affiliated group, as that term is defined
by Section 171.0001, another member of which:
(i) prepares or serves beverages, meals, or
other food products [is doing business as, or owns or operates
another entity doing business as, a caterer]; or
(ii) owns or operates a venue described by
Paragraph (J).
SECTION 2. Section 151.313, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read
as follows:
(a) The following items are exempted from the taxes imposed
by this chapter:
(1) a drug or medicine, other than insulin, if
prescribed or dispensed for a human or animal by a licensed
practitioner of the healing arts;
(2) insulin;
(3) a drug or medicine that is required to be labeled
with a "Drug Facts" panel in accordance with regulations of the
federal Food and Drug Administration, without regard to whether it
is prescribed or dispensed by a licensed practitioner of the
healing arts;
(4) a hypodermic syringe or needle;
(5) a brace; hearing aid or audio loop; orthopedic,
dental, or prosthetic device; ileostomy, colostomy, or ileal
bladder appliance; or supplies or replacement parts for the listed
items;
(6) a therapeutic appliance, device, and any related
supplies specifically designed for those products, if dispensed or
prescribed by a licensed practitioner of the healing arts, when
those items are purchased and used by an individual for whom the
items listed in this subdivision were dispensed or prescribed;
(7) corrective lens and necessary and related
supplies, if dispensed or prescribed by an ophthalmologist or
optometrist;
(8) specialized printing or signalling equipment used
by the deaf for the purpose of enabling the deaf to communicate
through the use of an ordinary telephone and all materials, paper,
and printing ribbons used in that equipment;
(9) a braille wristwatch, braille writer, braille
paper and braille electronic equipment that connects to computer
equipment, and the necessary adaptive devices and adaptive computer
software;
(10) each of the following items if purchased for use
by the blind to enable them to function more independently: a slate
and stylus, print enlarger, light probe, magnifier, white cane,
talking clock, large print terminal, talking terminal, or harness
for guide dog;
(11) hospital beds;
(12) blood glucose monitoring test strips;
(13) an adjustable eating utensil used to facilitate
independent eating if purchased for use by a person, including a
person who is elderly or physically disabled, has had a stroke, or
is a burn victim, who does not have full use or control of the
person's hands or arms;
(14) subject to Subsection (d), a dietary supplement;
and
(15) intravenous systems, supplies, and replacement
parts designed or intended to be used in the diagnosis or treatment
of humans.
(e) A product is an intravenous system for purposes of this
section if, regardless of whether the product is designed or
intended to be inserted subcutaneously into any part of the body,
the product is designed or intended to be used to administer fluids,
electrolytes, blood and blood products, or drugs to patients or to
withdraw blood or fluids from patients. The term includes access
ports, adapters, bags and bottles, cannulae, cassettes, catheters,
clamps, connectors, drip chambers, extension sets, filters,
in-line ports, luer locks, needles, poles, pumps and batteries,
spikes, tubing, valves, volumetric chambers, and items designed or
intended to connect qualifying products to one another or secure
qualifying products to a patient. The term does not include a wound
drain.
(f) A product is a hospital bed for purposes of this section
if it is a bed purchased, sold, leased, or rented, regardless of the
terms of the contract, that is specially designed for the comfort
and well-being of patients and the convenience of health care
workers, with special features that may include wheels, adjustable
height, adjustable side rails, and electronic buttons to operate
both the bed and other nearby devices. The term does not include
bed linens, stretchers, gurneys, delivery tables, or detached
accessories such as over-bed tables, trapeze devices, or scales.
The term includes:
(1) a mattress for the bed;
(2) any devices built into the bed or designed for use
with the bed;
(3) infant warmers;
(4) incubators;
(5) other beds for neonatal and pediatric patients;
and
(6) beds specifically designed and marketed for use in
the rest, recuperation, and treatment of obese patients, obstetric
patients, and burn patients.
SECTION 3. Section 151.319(f), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(f) In this section, "newspaper" means a publication that is
printed on newsprint, the average sales price of which for each copy
over a 30-day period does not exceed $3 [$1.50], and that is printed
and distributed at a daily, weekly, or other short interval for the
dissemination of news of a general character and of a general
interest. "Newspaper" does not include a magazine, handbill,
circular, flyer, sales catalog, or similar printed item unless the
printed item is printed for distribution as a part of a newspaper
and is actually distributed as a part of a newspaper. For the
purposes of this section, an advertisement is news of a general
character and of a general interest. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subsection, "newspaper" includes:
(1) a publication containing articles and essays of
general interest by various writers and advertisements that is
produced for the operator of a licensed and certified carrier of
persons and distributed by the operator to its customers during
their travel on the carrier; and
(2) a publication for the dissemination of news of a
general character and of a general interest that is printed on
newsprint and distributed to the general public free of charge at a
daily, weekly, or other short interval.
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, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3169 was passed by the House on May 8,
2013, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 3169 on May 24, 2013, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 3169 on May 26, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3169 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 21, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
3169 on May 26, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor