2015S0417-T 03/09/15
By: Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 1125
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the sale of motor vehicles to manufacturers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 152.001, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 152.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Sale" includes:
(A) an installment and credit sale;
(B) an exchange of property for property or
money;
(C) an exchange in which property is transferred
but the seller retains title as security for payment of the purchase
price;
(D) a transaction in which a motor vehicle is
transferred to another person without payment of consideration and
that does not qualify as a gift under Section 152.025; and
(E) any other closed transaction that
constitutes a sale.
(2) "Retail sale" means a sale of a motor vehicle
except:
(A) the sale of a new motor vehicle in which the
purchaser is a franchised dealer who is authorized by law and by
franchise agreement to offer the vehicle for sale as a new motor
vehicle and who acquires the vehicle either for the exclusive
purpose of sale in the manner provided by law or for purposes
allowed under Chapter 503, Transportation Code;
(B) the sale of a new motor vehicle in which the
purchaser is a person who manufactures, distributes or assembles
new motor vehicles and who acquires the vehicle for purposes
allowed under Section 503.064, Transportation Code;
(C)(B) the sale of a vehicle other than a new
motor vehicle in which the purchaser is a dealer who holds a
dealer's general distinguishing number issued under Chapter 503,
Transportation Code, and who acquires the vehicle either for the
exclusive purpose of resale in the manner provided by law or for
purposes allowed under Chapter 503, Transportation Code; or
(D)(C) the sale to a franchised dealer of a new
motor vehicle removed from the franchised dealer's inventory for
the purpose of entering into a contract to lease the vehicle to
another person if, immediately after executing the lease contract,
the franchised dealer transfers title of the vehicle and assigns
the lease contract to the lessor of the vehicle.
(3) "Motor Vehicle" includes:
(A) a self-propelled vehicle designed to
transport persons or property on a public highway;
(B) a trailer and semitrailer, including a van,
flatbed, tank, dumpster, dolly, jeep, stinger, auxiliary axle, or
converter gear; and
(C) a house trailer as defined by Chapter 501,
Transportation Code.
(4) "Motor Vehicle" does not include:
(A) a device moved only by human power;
(B) a device used exclusively on stationary rails
or tracks;
(C) road-building machinery;
(D) a mobile office;
(E) a vehicle with respect to which the
certificate of title has been surrendered in exchange for:
(i) a salvage vehicle title issued pursuant
to Chapter 501, Transportation Code;
(ii) a certificate of authority issued
pursuant to Chapter 683, Transportation Code;
(iii) a nonrepairable vehicle title issued
pursuant to Chapter 501, Transportation Code;
(iv) an ownership document issued by
another state if the document is comparable to a document issued
pursuant to Subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii);
(F) a vehicle that has been declared a total loss
by an insurance company pursuant to the settlement or adjustment of
a claim; or
(G) an oilfield portable unit.
(5) "Rental" means:
(A) an agreement by the owner of a motor vehicle
to give for not longer than 180 days the exclusive use of that
vehicle to another for consideration;
(B) an agreement by the original manufacturer of
a motor vehicle to give exclusive use of the motor vehicle to
another for consideration; or
(C) an agreement to give exclusive use of a motor
vehicle to another for re-rental purposes.
(6) "Lease" means an agreement, other than a rental,
by an owner of a motor vehicle to give for longer than 180 days
exclusive use of the vehicle to another for consideration.
(7) "Public agency" means:
(A) a department, commission, board, office,
institution, or other agency of this state or of a county, city,
town, school district, hospital district, water district, or other
special district or authority or political subdivision created by
or under the constitution or the statutes of this state; or
(B) an unincorporated agency or instrumentality
of the United States.
(8) "Gross rental receipts" means value received or
promised as consideration to the owner of a motor vehicle for rental
of the vehicle, but does not include:
(A) separately stated charges for insurance;
(B) charges for damages to the motor vehicle
occurring during the rental agreement period;
(C) separately stated charges for motor fuel sold
by the owner of the motor vehicle; or
(D) discounts.
(9) "Owner of a motor vehicle" means:
(A) a person named in the certificate of title as
the owner of the vehicle; or
(B) a person who has the exclusive use of a motor
vehicle by reason of a rental and holds the vehicle for re-rental.
(10) "Orthopedically handicapped person" means a
person who because of a physical impairment is unable to operate or
reasonably be transported in a motor vehicle that has not been
specially modified.
(11) "Volunteer fire department" means a company,
department, or association whose members receive no or nominal
compensation and which is organized for the purpose of answering
fire alarms and extinguishing fires or answering fire alarms,
extinguishing fires, and providing emergency medical services.
(12) "Motor vehicle used for religious purposes" means
a motor vehicle that is:
(A) designed to carry more than six passengers;
(B) sold to, rented to, or used by a church or
religious society;
(C) used primarily for the purpose of providing
transportation to and from a church or religious service or
meeting; and
(D) not registered as a passenger vehicle and not
used primarily for the personal or official needs or duties of a
minister.
(13) "Farm machine" means a self-propelled motor
vehicle specially adapted for use in the production of crops or
rearing of livestock, including poultry, and use in feedlots and
includes a self-propelled motor vehicle specially adapted for
applying plant food materials, agricultural chemicals, or feed for
livestock. "Farm machine" does not include any self-propelled
motor vehicle specifically designed or specially adapted for the
sole purpose of transporting agricultural products, plant food
materials, agricultural chemicals, or feed for livestock.
(14) "Nonprofit" means:
(A) organized as a nonprofit corporation under
the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq.,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or
(B) organized and operated in a way that does not
result in accrual of distributable profits, realization of private
gain resulting from payment of compensation other than reasonable
compensation for services rendered by persons who are not members
of the organization, or realization of any other form of private
gain.
(15) "Seller-financed sale" means a retail sale of a
motor vehicle by a dealer licensed under Chapter 503,
Transportation Code, in which the seller collects all or part of the
total consideration in periodic payments and retains a lien on the
motor vehicle until all payments have been received. The term does
not include a:
(A) retail sale of a motor vehicle in which a
person other than the seller provides the consideration for the
sale and retains a lien on the motor vehicle as collateral;
(B) lease; or
(C) rental.
(16) "Mobile office" means a trailer designed to be
used as an office, sales outlet, or other workplace.
(17) "Lessor" means a person who acquires title to a
new motor vehicle for the purpose of leasing the vehicle to another
person.
(18) "New motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that,
without regard to mileage, has not been the subject of a retail tax.
(19) "Franchised dealer" has the meaning assigned the
term by Chapter 503, Transportation Code.
(20) "Oilfield portable unit" means a bunkhouse,
manufactured home, trailer, or semitrailer that:
(A) is not a travel trailer, as defined by
Section 502.166(e), Transportation Code;
(B) is designed to be used for temporary lodging
or as temporary office space;
(C) is used exclusively at any oil, gas, water
disposal, or injection well site to provide to well site employees,
contractors, or other workers sleeping accommodations or temporary
work space, including office space; and
(D) does not require attachment to a foundation
or to real property to be functional.
SECTION 2. Section 152.027, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 152.027. TAX ON METAL DEALER PLATES. (a) A use tax is
imposed on each person to whom is issued a metal dealer's plate
authorized by Chapter 503, Transportation Code or to whom is used a
metal manufacturer's plate authorized by Chapter 503,
Transportation Code.
(b) The tax is $25 for each plate issued.
(c) The tax imposed by this section is in lieu of any other
tax imposed by this chapter.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.