By: Darby (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 1933
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2015;
April 28, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Finance; May 6, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 13, Nays 0; May 6, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to installment payments of ad valorem taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 31.031(a-1), (a-2), and (b), Tax Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a-1) An individual to whom this section applies may pay a
taxing unit's taxes imposed on property that the person owns and
occupies as a residence homestead in four equal installments
without penalty or interest if the first installment is paid before
the delinquency date and is accompanied by notice to the taxing unit
that the person will pay the remaining taxes in three equal
installments. If the delinquency date is February 1, the [The]
second installment must be paid before April 1, the third
installment must be paid before June 1, and the fourth installment
must be paid before August 1. If the delinquency date is a date
other than February 1, the second installment must be paid before
the first day of the second month after the delinquency date, the
third installment must be paid before the first day of the fourth
month after the delinquency date, and the fourth installment must
be paid before the first day of the sixth month after the
delinquency date.
(a-2) Notwithstanding the deadline prescribed by Subsection
(a-1) for payment of the first installment, an individual to whom
this section applies may pay the taxes in four equal installments as
provided by Subsection (a-1) if the first installment is paid and
the required notice is provided before the first day of the first
month after the delinquency date [March 1].
(b) If the individual fails to make a payment, including the
first payment, before the applicable date provided by Subsection
(a-1), the unpaid installment [amount] is delinquent and incurs a
penalty of six percent and interest as provided by Section
33.01(c). The penalty provided by Section 33.01(a) does not apply
to the unpaid installment [amount].
SECTION 2. Sections 31.032(b) and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) If, before the delinquency date, a person pays at least
one-fourth of a taxing unit's taxes imposed on property that the
person owns, accompanied by notice to the taxing unit that the
person will pay the remaining taxes in installments, the person may
pay the remaining taxes without penalty or interest in three equal
installments. If the delinquency date is February 1, the [The]
first installment must be paid before April 1, the second
installment must be paid before June 1, and the third installment
must be paid before August 1. If the delinquency date is a date
other than February 1, the first installment must be paid before the
first day of the second month after the delinquency date, the second
installment must be paid before the first day of the fourth month
after the delinquency date, and the third installment must be paid
before the first day of the sixth month after the delinquency date.
(c) If the person fails to make a payment before the
applicable date provided by Subsection (b), the unpaid installment
[amount] is delinquent and incurs a penalty of six percent and
interest as provided by Section 33.01(c).
SECTION 3. Sections 33.011(d) and (i), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(d) A request for a waiver of penalties and interest under
Subsection (a)(1) or (3), (b), (h), or (j) must be made before the
181st day after the delinquency date. A request for a waiver of
penalties and interest under Subsection (a)(2) must be made before
the first anniversary of the date the religious organization
acquires the property. A request for a waiver of penalties and
interest under Subsection (i) must be made before the 181st day
after the date the property owner making the request receives
notice of the delinquent tax that satisfies the requirements of
Section 33.04(c) [33.04(b)]. To be valid, a waiver of penalties or
interest under this section must be requested in writing. If a
written request for a waiver is not timely made, the governing body
of a taxing unit may not waive any penalties or interest under this
section.
(i) The governing body of a taxing unit may waive penalties
and interest on a delinquent tax that relates to a date preceding
the date on which the property owner acquired the property if:
(1) the property owner or another person liable for
the tax pays the tax not later than the 181st day after the date the
property owner receives notice of the delinquent tax that satisfies
the requirements of Section 33.04(c) [33.04(b)]; and
(2) the delinquency is the result of taxes imposed on:
(A) omitted property entered in the appraisal
records as provided by Section 25.21;
(B) erroneously exempted property or appraised
value added to the appraisal roll as provided by Section 11.43(i);
or
(C) property added to the appraisal roll under a
different account number or parcel when the property was owned by a
prior owner.
SECTION 4. Section 33.02, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a) and (b-1) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (f) to
read as follows:
(a) The collector for a taxing unit may enter into an
agreement with a person delinquent in the payment of the tax for
payment of the tax, penalties, and interest in installments. The
collector for a taxing unit shall, on request by a person delinquent
in the payment of the tax on a residence homestead for which the
property owner has been granted an exemption under Section 11.13,
enter into an agreement with the person for payment of the tax,
penalties, and interest in installments if the person has not
entered into an installment agreement with the collector for the
taxing unit under this section in the preceding 24 months.
(a-1) An installment agreement under this section:
(1) must be in writing;
(2) must provide for payments to be made in [equal]
monthly installments;
(3) must extend for a period of at least 12 months if
the property that is the subject of the agreement is a residence
homestead for which the person entering into the agreement has been
granted an exemption under Section 11.13; and
(4) may not extend for a period of more than 36 months.
(b-1) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a
penalty does not accrue as provided by Section 33.01(a) on the
unpaid balance during the period of the agreement if the property
that is the subject of the agreement is a residence homestead for
which the property owner has been granted an exemption under
Section 11.13. If the property owner fails to make a payment as
required by the agreement, a penalty accrues as provided by Section
33.01(a) on the unpaid balance as if the owner had not entered into
the agreement.
(f) The collector for a taxing unit must deliver a notice of
default to a person who is in breach of an installment agreement
under this section and to any other owner of an interest in the
property subject to the agreement whose name appears on the
delinquent tax roll before the collector may seize and sell the
property or file a suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to the
agreement.
SECTION 5. Section 33.04, Tax Code, as amended by Chapters
935 (H.B. 1597) and 967 (H.B. 1913), Acts of the 83rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2013, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 33.04. NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY. (a) At least once each
year the collector for a taxing unit shall deliver a notice of
delinquency to each person whose name appears on the current
delinquent tax roll. However, the notice need not be delivered if:
(1) a bill for the tax was not mailed under Section
31.01(f); or
(2) the collector does not know and by exercising
reasonable diligence cannot determine the delinquent taxpayer's
name and address.
(b) A notice of delinquency under this section must contain
the following statement in capital letters: "IF THE PROPERTY
DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS YOUR RESIDENCE HOMESTEAD, YOU SHOULD
CONTACT THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR (NAME OF TAXING UNIT) REGARDING A
RIGHT YOU MAY HAVE TO ENTER INTO AN INSTALLMENT AGREEMENT DIRECTLY
WITH THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR (NAME OF TAXING UNIT) FOR THE PAYMENT OF
THESE TAXES."
(c) [(b)] If the delinquency is the result of taxes imposed
on property described by Section 33.011(i), the first page of the
notice of delinquency must include, in 14-point boldfaced type or
14-point uppercase letters, a statement that reads substantially as
follows: "THE TAXES ON THIS PROPERTY ARE DELINQUENT. THE PROPERTY
IS SUBJECT TO A LIEN FOR THE DELINQUENT TAXES. IF THE DELINQUENT
TAXES ARE NOT PAID, THE LIEN MAY BE FORECLOSED [ON]."
[(c) The collector for a taxing unit must deliver a notice
of delinquency to a person who is in breach of an installment
agreement under Section 33.02 and to any other owner of an interest
in the property subject to the agreement whose name appears on the
delinquent tax roll before the collector may seize and sell the
property or file a suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to the
agreement.]
SECTION 6. Sections 31.031(d) and 31.032(e), Tax Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Sections 31.031, 31.032, and 33.02, Tax Code, apply only to an
installment agreement for the payment of ad valorem taxes entered
into on or after the effective date of this Act. An installment
agreement for the payment of ad valorem taxes entered into before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the agreement was entered into, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 33.04, Tax
Code, applies only to a notice of delinquency delivered on or after
the effective date of this Act. A notice of delinquency delivered
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the notice was delivered, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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