By: Springer, Guillen H.B. No. 1300
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection and use of certain hotel occupancy
taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 334.001, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (1) and (4) and adding Subdivision
(1-a) to read as follows:
(1) "Active transportation" means transportation that
is wholly or primarily powered by human energy. The term includes
walking, running, and bicycling.
(1-a) "Approved venue project" means a sports and
community venue project that has been approved under this chapter
by the voters of a municipality or county.
(4) "Venue" means:
(A) an arena, coliseum, stadium, or other type of
area or facility:
(i) that is used or is planned for use for
one or more professional or amateur sports events, community
events, or other sports events, including rodeos, livestock shows,
agricultural expositions, promotional events, and other civic or
charitable events; and
(ii) for which a fee for admission to the
events is charged or is planned to be charged;
(B) a convention center, convention center
facility as defined by Section 351.001(2) or 352.001(2), Tax Code,
or related improvement such as a civic center hotel, theater, opera
house, music hall, rehearsal hall, park, zoological park, museum,
aquarium, or plaza located in the vicinity of a convention center or
facility owned by a municipality or a county;
(C) a tourist development area [along an inland
waterway];
(D) a municipal parks and recreation system, or
improvements or additions to a parks and recreation system, or an
area or facility, including an area or facility for active
transportation use, that is part of a municipal parks and
recreation system;
(E) a project authorized by Section 4A or 4B,
Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes), as that Act existed on September 1, 1997; [and]
(F) a watershed protection and preservation
project; a recharge, recharge area, or recharge feature protection
project; a conservation easement; or an open-space preservation
program intended to protect water; and
(G) an airport facility located in a municipality
located on the international border.
SECTION 2. Section 334.1015, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 334.1015. APPLICATION. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), this [This] subchapter does not apply to the
financing of a venue project that is an area or facility that is
part of a municipal parks and recreation system.
(b) A municipality located on the international border may
finance a venue project described by Section 334.001(4)(D) with the
revenue from a tax imposed under this subchapter.
SECTION 3. Section 334.2515, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 334.2515. APPLICATION. Except as provided by Section
334.2516, this subchapter does not apply to the financing of a venue
project that is:
(1) an area described by Section 334.001(4)(C);
(2) an area or facility that is part of a municipal
parks and recreation system as described by Section 334.001(4)(D);
[or]
(3) [(2)] a project described by Section
334.001(4)(E), except for a project [projects] described by [in]
Section 334.001(4)(A); or
(4) a facility described by Section 334.001(4)(G).
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 351, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 351.0043 to read as follows:
Sec. 351.0043. TAX COLLECTION BY SHORT-TERM RENTAL
MARKETPLACE. (a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Booking charge" means the charge imposed on a
person by a host for the purpose of renting a short-term rental in
this state and includes any fees charged by the host, regardless of
whether separately itemized.
(2) "Host" means a person who owns a short-term rental
and offers the short-term rental for rent through a short-term
rental marketplace or, if applicable, that person's authorized
agent who offers the short-term rental for rent through a
short-term rental marketplace.
(3) "Short-term rental" has the meaning assigned by
Section 156.001.
(4) "Short-term rental marketplace" means a
marketplace, Internet website, mobile application, or other
platform:
(A) through which a host offers a short-term
rental for rent; and
(B) that collects the booking charge for the
rental of the short-term rental.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 351.004 or any other law:
(1) a short-term rental marketplace:
(A) shall collect the appropriate amount of the
tax imposed under this chapter by a municipality in which a
short-term rental is located on each booking charge with respect to
that short-term rental;
(B) shall report and remit all taxes collected by
the short-term rental marketplace under Paragraph (A) in the manner
required:
(i) of a person owning, operating,
managing, or controlling a hotel under this chapter and in
accordance with the ordinance adopted by the municipality imposing
the tax; or
(ii) if applicable, by an agreement under
this section; and
(C) is considered to be the person owning,
operating, managing, or controlling the short-term rental for
purposes of the collection and enforcement of the tax imposed under
this chapter; and
(2) the host may not collect and is not liable for a
tax imposed by this chapter on a booking charge for a rental made
through the short-term rental marketplace.
(c) A short-term rental marketplace may:
(1) enter into an agreement with the comptroller to
collect and remit to the comptroller the taxes imposed by a
municipality under this chapter on each booking charge for a rental
made through the short-term rental marketplace; or
(2) enter into an agreement with a third-party vendor
to remit to the municipality the taxes described by Subdivision (1)
that the short-term rental marketplace collects.
(d) To be effective, an agreement described by Subsection
(c)(2) must be approved by the governing body of the municipality.
During the period an agreement described by Subsection (c) is in
effect, the short-term rental marketplace shall report and remit
all taxes collected by the short-term rental marketplace under
Subsection (b):
(1) to the comptroller on a schedule determined by the
comptroller, if the agreement in effect is with the comptroller; or
(2) to the third-party vendor on a schedule determined
by the vendor, if the agreement in effect is with a vendor.
(e) The comptroller or third-party vendor, as applicable,
shall promulgate a form a short-term rental marketplace must use to
report the taxes collected by the short-term rental marketplace
under this section if an agreement under Subsection (c) is in
effect. The form must include the following information:
(1) the total receipts from the rental during the
reporting period of all short-term rentals located in any
municipality that has approved an agreement under this section and
offered for rent through the short-term rental marketplace,
categorized by municipality in which those short-term rentals are
located;
(2) the total amount of booking charges from the
rental during the reporting period of all short-term rentals
located in any municipality that has approved an agreement under
this section and offered for rent through the short-term rental
marketplace, categorized by municipality in which those short-term
rentals are located;
(3) the rate of the tax imposed under this chapter in
each municipality identified under Subdivision (2); and
(4) the total receipts and the total amount of booking
charges from the rental during the reporting period of all
short-term rentals located in a project financing zone as defined
by Section 351.1015 and offered for rent through the short-term
rental marketplace, categorized by project financing zone.
(f) The form described by Subsection (e) may not require the
identification of a specific guest or the host of a short-term
rental.
(g) If the short-term rental marketplace collects and
remits to the comptroller the taxes imposed by the municipality
under this chapter in accordance with an agreement under Subsection
(c)(1), the comptroller shall:
(1) deposit the taxes remitted to the comptroller
under this section in trust in the separate suspense account of the
municipality in which short-term rentals with respect to which the
taxes were collected are located; and
(2) send to the municipal treasurer or to the person
who performs the office of the municipal treasurer payable to the
municipality the municipality's share of the taxes remitted to the
comptroller under this chapter at least 12 times during each state
fiscal year.
(h) A suspense account described by Subsection (g)(1) is
outside the treasury and the comptroller may make a payment from the
account without the necessity of an appropriation.
(i) Before sending any money to a municipality under
Subsection (g) and subject to the limitation provided by this
subsection, the comptroller shall deduct and deposit to the credit
of the general revenue fund an amount equal to one-half of one
percent of the amount of the taxes collected from rentals of
short-term rentals located in the municipality under this section
during the period for which a distribution is made as the state's
charge for services provided by the state under this section. The
comptroller may not deduct from the distributions to a municipality
more than $50,000 in each state fiscal year under this subsection.
(j) If the short-term rental marketplace enters into an
agreement with a third-party vendor under Subsection (c)(2), the
vendor shall report and remit to a municipality that approved the
agreement all taxes imposed by the municipality under this chapter
and collected by the short-term rental marketplace on rentals of
short-term rentals located in that municipality at the times and in
the manner provided by the agreement.
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, this section applies to
the collection, remittance, and distribution of taxes imposed by a
political subdivision that is authorized to impose a hotel
occupancy tax under a provision of the Special District Local Laws
Code or Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes in the same manner the section
applies to a municipality authorized to impose a hotel occupancy
tax under this chapter.
(l) The comptroller may adopt rules to implement and
administer this section.
SECTION 5. Section 351.005, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 351.005. REIMBURSEMENT FOR EXPENSES OF TAX COLLECTION
AND USE OF ELECTRONIC TAX ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM. (a) A
municipality may permit a person who is required to collect and pay
over to the municipality the tax authorized by this chapter to
withhold not more than one percent of the amount of the tax
collected and required to be reported as reimbursement to the
person for the cost of [costs in] collecting the tax [and, if
applicable, the use of an electronic tax administration system
described by Section 351.1012].
(b) If a municipality uses revenue derived from the tax
authorized by this chapter to create, maintain, operate, or
administer an electronic tax administration system as authorized by
Section 351.1012, the municipality shall permit a person who is
required to collect and pay over to the municipality the tax
authorized by this chapter to withhold not more than one percent of
the amount of the tax collected and required to be reported as
reimbursement to the person for the cost of collecting the tax.
(c) The municipality may provide that the reimbursement
provided or required by this section be forfeited because of a
failure to pay the tax or to file a report as required by the
municipality.
SECTION 6. (a) Section 351.101(a), Tax Code, as amended by
Chapters 666 (H.B. 3772) and 979 (H.B. 3615), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
(a) Revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be
used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry,
and that use is limited to the following:
(1) the acquisition of sites for and the construction,
improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information
centers, or both;
(2) the furnishing of facilities, personnel, and
materials for the registration of convention delegates or
registrants;
(3) advertising and conducting solicitations and
promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates
or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity;
(4) the encouragement, promotion, improvement, and
application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal music,
dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, design and
allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft
arts, motion pictures, radio, television, tape and sound recording,
and other arts related to the presentation, performance, execution,
and exhibition of these major art forms;
(5) historical restoration and preservation projects
or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and
promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention
delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums:
(A) at or in the immediate vicinity of convention
center facilities or visitor information centers; or
(B) located elsewhere in the municipality or its
vicinity that would be frequented by tourists and convention
delegates;
(6) for a municipality located in a county with a
population of one million or less, expenses, including promotion
expenses, directly related to a sporting event in which the
majority of participants are tourists who substantially increase
economic activity at hotels and motels within the municipality or
its vicinity;
(7) subject to Section 351.1076, the promotion of
tourism by the enhancement and upgrading of existing sports
facilities or fields, including facilities or fields for baseball,
softball, soccer, flag football, and rodeos, if:
(A) the municipality owns the facilities or
fields;
(B) the municipality:
(i) has a population of 80,000 or more and
is located in a county that has a population of 350,000 or less;
(ii) has a population of at least 75,000 but
not more than 95,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of less than 200,000 but more than 160,000;
(iii) has a population of at least 36,000
but not more than 39,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 100,000 or less that is not adjacent to a county with
a population of more than two million;
(iv) has a population of at least 13,000 but
less than 39,000 and is located in a county that has a population of
at least 200,000;
(v) has a population of at least 70,000 but
less than 90,000 and no part of which is located in a county with a
population greater than 150,000;
(vi) is located in a county that:
(a) is adjacent to the Texas-Mexico
border;
(b) has a population of at least
500,000; and
(c) does not have a municipality with
a population greater than 500,000;
(vii) has a population of at least 25,000
but not more than 26,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 90,000 or less;
(viii) [(ix)] is located in a county that
has a population of not more than 300,000 and in which a component
university of the University of Houston System is located; [or]
(ix) [(x)] has a population of at least
40,000 and the San Marcos River flows through the municipality; or
(x) contains an intersection of Interstates
35E and 35W and at least two public universities; and
(C) the sports facilities and fields have been
used, in the preceding calendar year, a combined total of more than
10 times for district, state, regional, or national sports
tournaments;
(8) for a municipality with a population of at least
70,000 but less than 90,000, no part of which is located in a county
with a population greater than 150,000, the construction,
improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility;
(9) signage directing the public to sights and
attractions that are visited frequently by hotel guests in the
municipality;
(10) the construction, improvement, enlarging,
equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of a coliseum or
multiuse facility, if the municipality:
(A) has a population of at least 90,000 but less
than 120,000; and
(B) is located in two counties, at least one of
which contains the headwaters of the San Gabriel River; and
(11) for a municipality with a population of more than
175,000 but less than 225,000 that is located in two counties, each
of which has a population of less than 200,000, the construction,
improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
maintenance of a coliseum or multiuse facility and related
infrastructure or a venue, as defined by Section 334.001(4), Local
Government Code, that is related to the promotion of tourism.
(b) To the extent of any conflict, this section controls
over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
(c) This section takes effect immediately if this Act
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for this section to
have immediate effect, this section takes effect September 1, 2017.
SECTION 7. Section 351.101, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (o) to read as follows:
(o) In addition to the purposes provided by Subsection (a),
a municipality that has a population of not more than 10,000, that
contains an outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer with retail
space larger than 175,000 square feet, and that hosts an annual
wiener dog race may use revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy
tax to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry by
constructing, operating, or expanding a sporting related facility
or sports field owned by the municipality, if the majority of the
events at the facility or field are directly related to a sporting
event in which the majority of participants are tourists who
substantially increase economic activity at hotels in the
municipality. If a municipality to which this subsection applies
uses revenue derived from the municipal hotel occupancy tax for a
purpose described by this subsection, the municipality may not
reduce the percentage of revenue from that tax allocated for a
purpose described by Subsection (a)(3) to a percentage that is less
than the average percentage of that revenue allocated by the
municipality for that purpose during the 36-month period preceding
the date the municipality begins using the revenue for a purpose
described by this subsection.
SECTION 8. Section 351.1012(a), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
municipality may spend each year not more than the lesser of one
percent or $75,000 of the revenue derived from the tax authorized by
this chapter during that year for the creation, maintenance,
operation, and administration of an electronic tax administration
system. A municipality may not use revenue the municipality is
authorized to spend under this subsection to conduct an audit.
SECTION 9. Section 351.1078, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 351.1078. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE: CERTAIN
MUNICIPALITIES. (a) A municipality that spends municipal hotel
occupancy tax revenue as authorized by Section 351.101(i) or (o):
(1) may not use municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue
for the acquisition of land for the sporting related facility or
sports field described by that subsection;
(2) shall annually determine and prepare and publish
on the municipality's Internet website a report on the events held
at the facility or field, the number of hotel room nights
attributable to events held at the facility or field, and the amount
of hotel revenue and municipal tax revenue attributable to the
sports events and tournaments held at the facility or field for five
years after the date the construction expenditures are completed;
and
(3) may only spend hotel occupancy tax revenue for
operational expenses of the facility or field if the costs are
directly related to a sporting event in which the majority of
participants are tourists who substantially increase economic
activity at hotels in or near the municipality.
(b) The municipality shall reimburse to the municipality's
hotel occupancy tax revenue fund from the municipality's general
fund any expenditure in excess of the amount of area hotel revenue
attributable to sporting events held at the sporting related
facility or sports field described by Section 351.101(i) or (o) for
five years after the date the construction or expansion of the
facility or field described by that subsection is completed.
SECTION 10. Subchapter A, Chapter 352, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 352.0042 to read as follows:
Sec. 352.0042. TAX COLLECTION BY SHORT-TERM RENTAL
MARKETPLACE. (a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Booking charge," "host," and "short-term rental
marketplace" have the meanings assigned by Section 351.0043.
(2) "Short-term rental" has the meaning assigned by
Section 156.001.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 352.004 or any other law:
(1) a short-term rental marketplace:
(A) shall collect the appropriate amount of the
tax imposed under this chapter by a county in which a short-term
rental is located on each booking charge with respect to that
short-term rental;
(B) shall report and remit all taxes collected by
the short-term rental marketplace under Paragraph (A) in the manner
required:
(i) of a person owning, operating,
managing, or controlling a hotel under this chapter and in
accordance with the order adopted by the county imposing the tax; or
(ii) if applicable, by an agreement under
this section; and
(C) is considered to be the person owning,
operating, managing, or controlling the short-term rental for
purposes of the collection and enforcement of the tax imposed under
this chapter; and
(2) the host may not collect and is not liable for a
tax imposed by this chapter on a booking charge for a rental made
through the short-term rental marketplace.
(c) A short-term rental marketplace may:
(1) enter into an agreement with the comptroller to
collect and remit to the comptroller the taxes imposed by a county
under this chapter on each booking charge for a rental made through
the short-term rental marketplace; or
(2) enter into an agreement with a third-party vendor
to remit to the county the taxes described by Subdivision (1) that
the short-term rental marketplace collects.
(d) To be effective, an agreement described by Subsection
(c)(2) must be approved by the commissioners court of the county.
During the period an agreement described by Subsection (c) is in
effect, the short-term rental marketplace shall report and remit
all taxes collected by the short-term rental marketplace under
Subsection (b):
(1) to the comptroller on a schedule determined by the
comptroller, if the agreement in effect is with the comptroller; or
(2) to the third-party vendor on a schedule determined
by the vendor, if the agreement in effect is with a vendor.
(e) The comptroller or third-party vendor, as applicable,
shall promulgate a form a short-term rental marketplace must use to
report the taxes collected by the short-term rental marketplace
under this section if an agreement under Subsection (c) is in
effect. The form must include the following information:
(1) the total receipts from the rental during the
reporting period of all short-term rentals located in any county
that has approved an agreement under this section and offered for
rent through the short-term rental marketplace, categorized by
county in which those short-term rentals are located;
(2) the total amount of booking charges from the
rental during the reporting period of all short-term rentals
located in any county that has approved an agreement under this
section and offered for rent through the short-term rental
marketplace, categorized by county in which those short-term
rentals are located; and
(3) the rate of the tax imposed under this chapter in
each county identified under Subdivision (2).
(f) The form described by Subsection (e) may not require the
identification of a specific guest or the host of a short-term
rental.
(g) If the short-term rental marketplace collects and
remits to the comptroller the taxes imposed by the county under this
chapter in accordance with an agreement under Subsection (c)(1),
the comptroller shall:
(1) deposit the taxes remitted to the comptroller
under this section in trust in the separate suspense account of the
county in which short-term rentals with respect to which the taxes
were collected are located; and
(2) send to the county treasurer payable to the county
the county's share of the taxes remitted to the comptroller under
this chapter at least 12 times during each state fiscal year.
(h) A suspense account described by Subsection (g)(1) is
outside the treasury and the comptroller may make a payment from the
account without the necessity of an appropriation.
(i) Before sending any money to a county under Subsection
(g) and subject to the limitation provided by this subsection, the
comptroller shall deduct and deposit to the credit of the general
revenue fund an amount equal to one-half of one percent of the
amount of the taxes collected from rentals of short-term rentals
located in the county under this section during the period for which
a distribution is made as the state's charge for services provided
by the state under this section. The comptroller may not deduct
from the distributions to a county more than $50,000 in each state
fiscal year under this subsection.
(j) If the short-term rental marketplace enters into an
agreement with a third-party vendor under Subsection (c)(2), the
vendor shall report and remit to a county that approved the
agreement all taxes imposed by the county under this chapter and
collected by the short-term rental marketplace on rentals of
short-term rentals located in that county at the times and in the
manner provided by the agreement.
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, this section applies to
the collection, remittance, and distribution of taxes imposed by a
political subdivision that is authorized to impose a hotel
occupancy tax under a provision of the Special District Local Laws
Code or Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes in the same manner the section
applies to a county authorized to impose a hotel occupancy tax under
this chapter.
(l) The comptroller may adopt rules to implement and
administer this section.
SECTION 11. Section 352.103, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 352.103. USE OF REVENUE: COUNTIES WITH NO
MUNICIPALITY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the [The]
revenue from a tax imposed under this chapter by a county that has
no municipality may be used only for:
(1) the purposes provided by Sections 351.101(a)(1),
(2), and (4);
(2) advertising for general promotional and tourist
advertising of the county and conducting a solicitation program to
attract conventions and visitors either by the county or through
contracts with persons or organizations selected by the
commissioners court; and
(3) historical preservation and restoration.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
county described by Subsection (a) that owns an airport may use
revenue from a tax imposed under this chapter for repairs and
improvements to the county airport or reimbursement for repairs and
improvements to the airport.
(c) A county to which Subsection (b) applies may not use
revenue from a tax imposed under this chapter for a purpose
described by Subsection (b) in a total amount that would exceed the
amount of hotel revenue in the county that is likely to be
reasonably attributable to guests traveling through the airport
during the 15-year period beginning on the date the county first
uses the tax revenue for that purpose.
(d) A county to which Subsection (b) applies may not use
revenue from a tax imposed under this chapter for a purpose
described by Subsection (b) after the 10th anniversary of the date
the county first uses that revenue for that purpose.
SECTION 12. The change in law made by this Act does not
affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this
Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been
enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
the liability for those taxes.
SECTION 13. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect January 1, 2018.