83S10379 ADM-D By: Harper-Brown H.B. No. 77 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the $1 million total revenue exemption for the franchise tax; decreasing the rates of the franchise tax. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 171.002(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended to read as follows: (a) Subject to Sections 171.003 and 171.1016 and except as provided by Subsection (b), the rate of the franchise tax is 0.75 [one] percent of taxable margin. (b) Subject to Sections 171.003 and 171.1016, the rate of the franchise tax is 0.25 [0.5] percent of taxable margin for those taxable entities primarily engaged in retail or wholesale trade. SECTION 2. Section 1(c), Chapter 286 (H.B. 4765), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, as amended by Section 37.01, Chapter 4 (S.B. 1), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2011, is repealed. SECTION 3. Section 2, Chapter 286 (H.B. 4765), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, as amended by Section 37.02, Chapter 4 (S.B. 1), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2011, and which amended former Subsection (d), Section 171.002, Tax Code, is repealed. SECTION 4. Section 3, Chapter 286 (H.B. 4765), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, as amended by Section 37.03, Chapter 4 (S.B. 1), Acts of the 82nd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2011, and which amended former Subsection (a), Section 171.0021, Tax Code, is repealed. SECTION 5. Section 171.006(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) Beginning in 2010, on January 1 of each even-numbered year, the amounts prescribed by Sections 171.002(d)(2)[, 171.0021,] and 171.1013(c) are increased or decreased by an amount equal to the amount prescribed by those sections on December 31 of the preceding year multiplied by the percentage increase or decrease during the preceding state fiscal biennium in the consumer price index and rounded to the nearest $10,000. SECTION 6. Sections 171.0021 and 171.1016(d), Tax Code, are repealed. SECTION 7. If H.B. No. 500, Acts of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, becomes law: (1) Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this Act have no effect; and (2) Sections 171.0022 and 171.0023, Tax Code, as added by that Act, have no effect. SECTION 8. This Act applies only to a report originally due on or after January 1, 2014. SECTION 9. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.