Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1283 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	84R7617 EES-F
2	2	By: Eltife S.B. No. 1283
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the exemption from certain registration and licensing
8	8	requirements and taxes for certain businesses and employees who
9	9	enter this state in response to a disaster or emergency.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
12	12	amended by adding Chapter 112 to read as follows:
13	13	CHAPTER 112. FACILITATING BUSINESS RAPID RESPONSE TO STATE
14	14	DECLARED DISASTERS ACT
15	15	Sec. 112.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
16	16	Facilitating Business Rapid Response to State Declared Disasters
17	17	Act.
18	18	Sec. 112.002. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
19	19	that:
20	20	(1) during times of storm, flood, fire, earthquake,
21	21	hurricane, or other disaster or emergency, many Texas businesses
22	22	bring in resources and personnel from other states on a temporary
23	23	basis to expedite the often enormous and overwhelming tasks of
24	24	cleaning up, restoring, and repairing damaged buildings,
25	25	equipment, and property, and deploying and building new replacement
26	26	facilities in the state;
27	27	(2) accomplishing those tasks may necessitate
28	28	out-of-state businesses, including out-of-state affiliates of
29	29	Texas businesses, bringing into Texas resources, property, and
30	30	personnel that previously had no connection to Texas to perform
31	31	business activities in Texas, including repairing, renovating,
32	32	installing, and building, for extended periods of time;
33	33	(3) during those periods of time, out-of-state
34	34	businesses and employees performing business activities in Texas on
35	35	a temporary basis solely for the purpose of helping the state
36	36	recover from a disaster or emergency should not be burdened by any
37	37	requirements that the out-of-state businesses or employees pay
38	38	taxes as a result of performing those activities;
39	39	(4) Texas' nexus and residency thresholds are intended
40	40	for businesses and individuals who intend to conduct regular
41	41	business operations in the state or to permanently reside in the
42	42	state and should not be applied to businesses and individuals who
43	43	come to the state on a temporary basis to provide help and
44	44	assistance in response to a disaster or emergency; and
45	45	(5) to ensure that out-of-state businesses may focus
46	46	on quickly responding to the needs of Texas and its citizens during
47	47	a disaster or emergency, it is appropriate for the legislature to
48	48	provide that those businesses and their employees are not subject
49	49	to certain state and local registration and licensing requirements
50	50	and taxes for performing business activities before, during, and
51	51	after the disaster or emergency to repair and restore devastating
52	52	damage to critical property and infrastructure in the state.
53	53	Sec. 112.003. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this chapter:
54	54	(1) "Critical infrastructure" means equipment and
55	55	property that is owned by or used for communications networks,
56	56	electric generation, transmission and distribution systems, gas
57	57	distribution systems, and water pipelines and related support
58	58	facilities, equipment, and property that serve multiple persons,
59	59	including buildings, offices, structures, lines, poles, and pipes.
60	60	(2) "Declared state disaster or emergency" means a
61	61	disaster or emergency event that occurs in this state and:
62	62	(A) in response to which the governor issues an
63	63	executive order or proclamation declaring a state of disaster or a
64	64	state of emergency;
65	65	(B) that the president of the United States
66	66	declares a major disaster or emergency; or
67	67	(C) that requires a good faith response effort
68	68	and that an authorized state official, other than the governor,
69	69	designates a disaster or emergency in order to invoke this chapter.
70	70	(3) "Disaster- or emergency-related work" means
71	71	repairing, renovating, installing, building, rendering services,
72	72	or performing other business activities relating to the repair or
73	73	replacement of critical infrastructure that has been damaged,
74	74	impaired, or destroyed by a declared state disaster or emergency.
75	75	(4) "Disaster response period" means the period that:
76	76	(A) begins on the 10th day before the date of the
77	77	earliest event establishing a declared state disaster or emergency
78	78	by the issuance of an executive order or proclamation by the
79	79	governor, a declaration of the president of the United States, or
80	80	the designation of an authorized state official; and
81	81	(B) ends on the 60th day after the ending date of
82	82	the disaster or emergency period established by the executive order
83	83	or proclamation, declaration, or designation or on a later date as
84	84	determined by the secretary of state.
85	85	(5) "In-state business entity" means a domestic entity
86	86	or foreign entity that is authorized to transact business in this
87	87	state immediately before a disaster response period.
88	88	(6) "Out-of-state business entity" means a foreign
89	89	entity that:
90	90	(A) except with respect to the performance of
91	91	disaster- or emergency-related work:
92	92	(i) has no physical presence in this state
93	93	and is not authorized to transact business in this state
94	94	immediately before a disaster response period; and
95	95	(ii) is not registered with the secretary
96	96	of state to transact business in this state, does not a file a tax
97	97	report with this state or a political subdivision of this state, and
98	98	does not have a nexus with this state for the purpose of taxation
99	99	during the tax year immediately preceding the disaster response
100	100	period; and
101	101	(B) enters this state at the request of an
102	102	in-state business entity, the state, or a political subdivision of
103	103	the state to perform disaster- or emergency-related work in this
104	104	state during the disaster response period.
105	105	(7) "Out-of-state employee" means an employee who
106	106	enters this state to perform disaster- or emergency-related work
107	107	during a disaster response period.
108	108	(b) For purposes of this chapter, a foreign entity may be
109	109	considered an "out-of-state business entity" even if the foreign
110	110	entity is affiliated with an in-state business entity through
111	111	common ownership.
112	112	Sec. 112.004. EXEMPTION OF OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESS ENTITY
113	113	FROM CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS DURING DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD.
114	114	Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Section
115	115	112.006, an out-of-state business entity whose transaction of
116	116	business in this state is limited to the performance of disaster- or
117	117	emergency-related work during a disaster response period is not
118	118	required to:
119	119	(1) register with the secretary of state;
120	120	(2) file a tax report with or pay taxes or fees to this
121	121	state or a political subdivision of this state;
122	122	(3) pay an ad valorem tax or use tax on equipment that
123	123	is brought into the state by the entity, used only by the entity to
124	124	perform disaster- or emergency-related work during the disaster
125	125	response period, and removed from the state by the entity following
126	126	the disaster response period;
127	127	(4) comply with any state or local business licensing
128	128	or registration requirements; or
129	129	(5) comply with any state or local occupational
130	130	licensing requirements or related fees.
131	131	Sec. 112.005. EXEMPTION OF OUT-OF-STATE EMPLOYEE FROM
132	132	CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS DURING DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD.
133	133	Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Section
134	134	112.006, an out-of-state employee whose only employment in this
135	135	state is for the performance of disaster- or emergency-related work
136	136	during a disaster response period is not required to:
137	137	(1) file a tax report with or pay taxes or fees to this
138	138	state or a political subdivision of this state; or
139	139	(2) comply with any state or local occupational
140	140	licensing requirements or related fees.
141	141	Sec. 112.006. TRANSACTION TAXES AND FEES. An out-of-state
142	142	business entity whose transaction of business in this state is
143	143	limited to the performance of disaster- or emergency-related work
144	144	during a disaster response period or an out-of-state employee whose
145	145	only employment in this state is for the performance of disaster- or
146	146	emergency-related work during a disaster response period is subject
147	147	to a transaction tax or fee, including a motor fuels tax, sales or
148	148	use tax, hotel occupancy tax, and the tax imposed on the rental of a
149	149	motor vehicle, that is imposed in this state, unless the entity or
150	150	employee is otherwise exempt from the tax or fee.
151	151	Sec. 112.007. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES. (a) If requested
152	152	by the secretary of state, an out-of-state business entity shall
153	153	provide to the secretary of state a statement that the entity came
154	154	to this state for the purpose of performing disaster- or
155	155	emergency-related work during a disaster response period and that
156	156	includes:
157	157	(1) the entity's name;
158	158	(2) the entity's jurisdiction of formation;
159	159	(3) the address of the principal office of the entity;
160	160	(4) the entity's federal tax identification number;
161	161	(5) the date that the entity entered the state; and
162	162	(6) contact information for the entity.
163	163	(b) If requested by the secretary of state, an in-state
164	164	business entity shall provide to the secretary of state, along with
165	165	the in-state business entity's contact information, the
166	166	information listed in Subsection (a) for any affiliate of the
167	167	in-state business entity that entered the state as an out-of-state
168	168	business entity.
169	169	(c) The secretary of state shall keep records of and make
170	170	available to the public any statements or information provided to
171	171	the secretary of state under this section.
172	172	Sec. 112.008. OBLIGATIONS OF OUT-OF-STATE BUSINESS
173	173	ENTITIES AND EMPLOYEES AFTER DISASTER RESPONSE PERIOD. An
174	174	out-of-state business entity or out-of-state employee who remains
175	175	in this state after a disaster response period is not entitled to
176	176	any exemptions from obligations provided by this chapter.
177	177	Sec. 112.009. REGULATIONS. The secretary of state shall
178	178	adopt regulations, including developing any necessary forms or
179	179	processes, to implement this chapter.
180	180	SECTION 2. (a) Subchapter B, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is
181	181	amended by adding Section 151.0241 to read as follows:
182	182	Sec. 151.0241. PERSONS PERFORMING DISASTER- OR
183	183	EMERGENCY-RELATED WORK. (a) In this section, "disaster- or
184	184	emergency-related work," "disaster response period," and
185	185	"out-of-state business entity" have the meanings assigned by
186	186	Section 112.003, Business & Commerce Code.
187	187	(b) An out-of-state business entity is not engaged in
188	188	business in this state for purposes of Sections 151.107 and 151.403
189	189	or any other provision of this chapter applicable to a person
190	190	engaged in business in this state if the entity's physical presence
191	191	in this state is solely from the entity's performance of disaster-
192	192	or emergency-related work during a disaster response period.
193	193	(b) Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended by
194	194	adding Section 151.3502 to read as follows:
195	195	Sec. 151.3502. SERVICES AND TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY SOLD
196	196	IN PERFORMING DISASTER- OR EMERGENCY-RELATED WORK. (a) In this
197	197	section, "disaster- or emergency-related work," "disaster response
198	198	period," and "out-of-state business entity" have the meanings
199	199	assigned by Section 112.003, Business & Commerce Code.
200	200	(b) The sale, lease, or rental of a taxable item by an
201	201	out-of-state business entity in performing disaster- or
202	202	emergency-related work during a disaster response period is
203	203	exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter.
204	204	(c) Sections 151.0241 and 151.3502, Tax Code, as added by
205	205	this section, do not affect tax liability accruing before the
206	206	effective date of this Act. That liability continues in effect as
207	207	if this Act had not been enacted, and the former law is continued in
208	208	effect for the collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal
209	209	enforcement of the liability for those taxes.
210	210	SECTION 3. (a) Section 171.0002, Tax Code, is amended by
211	211	adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
212	212	(c-1) "Taxable entity" does not include an out-of-state
213	213	business entity whose sole nexus with this state for the purpose of
214	214	taxation is the entity's provision of disaster- or
215	215	emergency-related work during a disaster response period. In this
216	216	subsection, "disaster- or emergency-related work," "disaster
217	217	response period," and "out-of-state business entity" have the
218	218	meanings assigned by Section 112.003, Business & Commerce Code.
219	219	(b) This section applies only to a franchise tax report
220	220	originally due on or after the effective date of this section.
221	221	(c) This section takes effect January 1, 2016.
222	222	SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided by this Act:
223	223	(1) if this Act receives a vote of two-thirds of all
224	224	the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39,
225	225	Article III, Texas Constitution, this Act takes effect immediately;
226	226	and
227	227	(2) if this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
228	228	immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2015.