Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3626 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R560 CJC-D
2	2	By: Hughes H.B. No. 3626
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the allocation of certain surplus state revenue for
8	8	periodic reductions in the state sales tax rate.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 403, Government Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 403.108 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 403.108. SALES TAX REDUCTION FUND. (a) The sales tax
13	13	reduction fund is a special fund in the state treasury outside the
14	14	general revenue fund. The comptroller shall administer the fund.
15	15	(b) The comptroller shall deposit to the credit of the fund
16	16	money that would be transferred to the economic stabilization fund
17	17	under Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), Section 49-g, Article
18	18	III, Texas Constitution, on the transfer dates described by
19	19	Subsections (b) and (c) of that section, but for the limitation
20	20	prescribed by Subsection (g) of that section. Interest earned on
21	21	money in the fund is credited to the fund.
22	22	(c) Money in the fund may be used only for a state sales tax
23	23	reduction period under Section 151.051, Tax Code, and is not
24	24	subject to appropriation unless transferred to the general revenue
25	25	fund as provided by that section.
26	26	SECTION 2. Section 151.051, Tax Code, is amended to read as
27	27	follows:
28	28	Sec. 151.051. SALES TAX IMPOSED. (a) A tax is imposed on
29	29	each sale of a taxable item in this state at a rate determined by the
30	30	comptroller as provided by this section.
31	31	(b) Except as provided by this section, the [The] sales tax
32	32	rate is 6-1/4 percent of the sales price of the taxable item sold.
33	33	(c) Not later than August 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
34	34	comptroller shall determine whether there are sufficient balances
35	35	in the sales tax reduction fund so that 90 percent of the balances
36	36	would equal or exceed the amount necessary to reimburse the general
37	37	revenue fund for the estimated amount of state sales tax revenue the
38	38	state would forgo if the state sales tax rate were reduced by at
39	39	least one-tenth of one percent during the last calendar quarter of
40	40	the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1 of that year.
41	41	(d) If the comptroller determines under Subsection (c) that
42	42	90 percent of the balances in the sales tax reduction fund would
43	43	support a reduction in the state sales tax rate for the period
44	44	described by Subsection (c), the comptroller shall declare a
45	45	reduced sales tax rate for that period. The comptroller shall
46	46	determine the reduced sales tax rate for that period. The reduced
47	47	rate must be a rate that is a whole-number multiple of one-tenth of
48	48	one percent lower than the rate otherwise provided by Subsection
49	49	(b).
50	50	(e) The comptroller shall publish notice of the reduced rate
51	51	and the calendar quarter for which the rate is reduced in the Texas
52	52	Register, shall mail notice of the reduced rate to each permit
53	53	holder, and may provide notice by other means the comptroller
54	54	determines prudent.
55	55	(f) On the day after the last day of the period for which the
56	56	state sales tax rate is reduced under this section, the comptroller
57	57	shall calculate the positive difference between the estimated state
58	58	sales tax revenue anticipated to be collected during the period for
59	59	which the sales tax rate is reduced and the estimated state sales
60	60	tax revenue that would be collected during the same period if the
61	61	sales tax rate were not reduced during that period. Except as
62	62	provided by Subsection (g), the comptroller shall transfer from the
63	63	sales tax reduction fund to the general revenue fund an amount of
64	64	money equal to the amount calculated as provided by this
65	65	subsection.
66	66	(g) Before making the transfer required by Subsection (f),
67	67	the comptroller shall determine what portion of the amount of money
68	68	calculated as provided by that section would have been deposited to
69	69	the credit of a dedicated account in the general revenue fund under
70	70	the constitution of this state or general law in effect on January
71	71	1, 2015, had the sales tax rate not been reduced under Subsection
72	72	(d). The comptroller shall deposit to the credit of each of those
73	73	dedicated accounts the amount of money that would have been
74	74	deposited to the account had the sales tax rate not been reduced.
75	75	(h) The comptroller shall make the determination required
76	76	by Subsection (c) according to available statistical data
77	77	indicating the estimated amounts to be deposited to the credit of
78	78	the sales tax reduction fund under Section 403.108, Government
79	79	Code. The comptroller may require taxpayers or other entities that
80	80	remit taxes to the comptroller to report to the comptroller
81	81	additional information necessary to make the determination under
82	82	Subsection (c).
83	83	(i) The comptroller shall adopt rules to implement this
84	84	section.
85	85	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.