Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3486 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Bonnen of Brazoria H.B. No. 3486
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to ad valorem and certain state taxes; decreasing certain
7	7	state tax rates.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	ARTICLE 1. AD VALOREM TAXATION PROVISIONS
10	10	SECTION 1.01. Section 140.010(f), Local Government Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(f) A county or municipality shall:
13	13	(1) provide the notice required by Subsection (d) or
14	14	(e), as applicable, not later than the later of September 1 or the
15	15	30th day after the date the certified appraisal roll is received by
16	16	the taxing unit by:
17	17	(A) publishing the notice in a newspaper having
18	18	general circulation in:
19	19	(i) the county, in the case of notice
20	20	published by a county; or
21	21	(ii) the county in which the municipality
22	22	is located or primarily located, in the case of notice published by
23	23	a municipality; or
24	24	(B) mailing the notice to each property owner in:
25	25	(i) the county, in the case of notice
26	26	provided by a county; or
27	27	(ii) the municipality, in the case of
28	28	notice provided by a municipality; and
29	29	(2) post the notice on the Internet website of the
30	30	county or municipality, if applicable, beginning not later than the
31	31	later of September 1 or the 30th day after the date the certified
32	32	appraisal roll is received by the taxing unit and continuing until
33	33	the county or municipality adopts a tax rate.
34	34	SECTION 1.02. Section 11.131(c), Tax Code, is amended to
35	35	read as follows:
36	36	(c) The surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who qualified
37	37	for an exemption under Subsection (b) when the disabled veteran
38	38	died, or of a disabled veteran who would have qualified for an
39	39	exemption under that subsection if that subsection had been in
40	40	effect on the date the disabled veteran died, is entitled to an
41	41	exemption from taxation of the total appraised value of the same
42	42	property to which the disabled veteran's exemption applied, or to
43	43	which the disabled veteran's exemption would have applied if the
44	44	exemption had been authorized on the date the disabled veteran
45	45	died, if:
46	46	(1) the surviving spouse has not remarried since the
47	47	death of the disabled veteran; and
48	48	(2) the property:
49	49	(A) was the residence homestead of the surviving
50	50	spouse when the disabled veteran died; and
51	51	(B) remains the residence homestead of the
52	52	surviving spouse.
53	53	SECTION 1.03. This article applies only to an ad valorem tax
54	54	year that begins on or after January 1, 2016.
55	55	SECTION 1.04. Section 11.131(c), Tax Code, as amended by
56	56	this article, takes effect January 1, 2016, but only if a
57	57	constitutional amendment proposed by the 84th Legislature, Regular
58	58	Session, 2015, authorizing the legislature to provide for an
59	59	exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market
60	60	value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100
61	61	percent or totally disabled veteran who died before the law
62	62	authorizing a residence homestead exemption for such a veteran took
63	63	effect is approved by the voters. If a constitutional amendment
64	64	providing that authorization to the legislature is not approved by
65	65	the voters, Section 11.131(c), Tax Code, as amended by this
66	66	article, has no effect.
67	67	ARTICLE 2. STATE TAXATION PROVISIONS
68	68	SECTION 2.01. Section 111.0626(a), Tax Code, is amended to
69	69	read as follows:
70	70	(a) The comptroller by rule shall require electronic filing
71	71	of:
72	72	(1) a report required under Chapter 151, 201, or 202,
73	73	or an international fuel tax agreement, for a taxpayer who is also
74	74	required under Section 111.0625 to transfer payments by electronic
75	75	funds transfer; and
76	76	(2) a report required under Section 171.204.
77	77	SECTION 2.02. (a) Section 151.0101(a), Tax Code, is
78	78	amended to read as follows:
79	79	(a) "Taxable services" means:
80	80	(1) amusement services;
81	81	(2) cable television services;
82	82	(3) personal services;
83	83	(4) motor vehicle parking and storage services;
84	84	(5) the repair, remodeling, maintenance, and
85	85	restoration of tangible personal property, except:
86	86	(A) aircraft;
87	87	(B) a ship, boat, or other vessel, other than:
88	88	(i) a taxable boat or motor as defined by
89	89	Section 160.001;
90	90	(ii) a sports fishing boat; or
91	91	(iii) any other vessel used for pleasure;
92	92	(C) the repair, maintenance, and restoration of a
93	93	motor vehicle; and
94	94	(D) the repair, maintenance, creation, and
95	95	restoration of a computer program, including its development and
96	96	modification, not sold by the person performing the repair,
97	97	maintenance, creation, or restoration service;
98	98	(6) telecommunications services;
99	99	(7) credit reporting services;
100	100	(8) debt collection services;
101	101	(9) insurance services;
102	102	(10) information services;
103	103	(11) real property services;
104	104	(12) data processing services;
105	105	(13) real property repair and remodeling;
106	106	(14) security services;
107	107	(15) telephone answering services;
108	108	(16) Internet access service; [and]
109	109	(17) a sale by a transmission and distribution
110	110	utility, as defined in Section 31.002, Utilities Code, of
111	111	transmission or delivery of service directly to an electricity
112	112	end-use customer whose consumption of electricity is subject to
113	113	taxation under this chapter; and
114	114	(18) ticket scalping.
115	115	(b) This section takes effect September 1, 2015.
116	116	SECTION 2.03. Section 151.051(b), Tax Code, is amended to
117	117	read as follows:
118	118	(b) The sales tax rate is 6.24 [6-1/4] percent of the sales
119	119	price of the taxable item sold.
120	120	SECTION 2.04. (a) Section 151.202, Tax Code, is amended by
121	121	adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
122	122	(c) An application that is filed electronically complies
123	123	with the signature requirement under Subsection (b).
124	124	(b) This section takes effect September 1, 2015.
125	125	SECTION 2.05. Sections 171.002(a) and (b), Tax Code, are
126	126	amended to read as follows:
127	127	(a) Subject to Sections 171.003 and 171.1016 and except as
128	128	provided by Subsection (b), the rate of the franchise tax is 0.95
129	129	[one] percent of taxable margin.
130	130	(b) Subject to Sections 171.003 and 171.1016, the rate of
131	131	the franchise tax is 0.475 [0.5] percent of taxable margin for those
132	132	taxable entities primarily engaged in retail or wholesale trade.
133	133	SECTION 2.06. The changes in law made by this article to
134	134	Sections 151.0101(a) and 151.202, Tax Code, do not affect tax
135	135	liability accruing before September 1, 2015. That liability
136	136	continues in effect as if this Act had not been enacted, and the
137	137	former law is continued in effect for the collection of taxes due
138	138	and for civil and criminal enforcement of the liability for those
139	139	taxes.
140	140	SECTION 2.07. The changes in law made by this article to
141	141	Chapter 171, Tax Code, apply only to a report originally due on or
142	142	after January 1, 2016.
143	143	SECTION 2.08. (a) The comptroller of public accounts shall
144	144	conduct a comprehensive study that:
145	145	(1) analyzes and compares:
146	146	(A) the feasibility of implementing alternative
147	147	methods to the franchise tax imposed under Chapter 171, Tax Code, by
148	148	which revenue may be generated to address the needs of this state;
149	149	and
150	150	(B) the effectiveness of each of those methods in
151	151	generating sufficient revenue to address those needs; and
152	152	(2) prioritizes the revenue needs of this state and
153	153	identifies potential reductions in expenditures by this state.
154	154	(b) The comptroller of public accounts shall consider the
155	155	funding priorities and requirements established by the Texas
156	156	Constitution in prioritizing the revenue needs of this state as
157	157	required by Subsection (a)(2) of this section.
158	158	(c) This section takes effect September 1, 2015.
159	159	ARTICLE 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
160	160	SECTION 3.01. Except as otherwise provided by this Act,
161	161	this Act takes effect January 1, 2016.