85R256 ADM-F
By: Canales H.B. No. 343
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a sales and use tax exemption for certain disabled
veterans and surviving spouses of certain disabled veterans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 151.360 to read as follows:
Sec. 151.360. PURCHASES BY CERTAIN DISABLED VETERANS OR
SURVIVING SPOUSES. (a) A taxable item sold, leased, or rented to,
or stored, used, or consumed by, any of the following persons is
exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter:
(1) a person who holds a registration number issued
under this section; or
(2) a member of the household where a person described
by Subdivision (1) resides, if the purchase, lease, rental, or
other consumption is for the benefit of the person, and if the
household member is authorized to make purchases on the person's
behalf.
(b) To claim an exemption under Subsection (a), the
purchaser must state a registration number issued by the
comptroller under this section on the exemption certificate
provided by the purchaser of the item.
(c) A person is eligible to receive a registration number
if:
(1) the person:
(A) is a resident of this state;
(B) enlisted in any branch of the armed forces of
the United States, including the Texas National Guard, and received
an honorable discharge; and
(C) has been certified by the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs or its successor to be in receipt of
disability compensation at the 100 percent rate as a result of a
permanent disability that:
(i) was sustained through military action
or accident; or
(ii) resulted from disease contracted while
in active service; or
(2) the person is the surviving spouse of a person
described by Subdivision (1), the person described by Subdivision
(1) is deceased, and the surviving spouse is not remarried.
(d) A person who is eligible for a registration number under
Subsection (c) may apply to the comptroller for the number. The
application must:
(1) be on a form prescribed by the comptroller; and
(2) contain any other information required by the
comptroller.
(e) The comptroller shall develop and implement a procedure
by which an applicant may submit an application described by
Subsection (d) electronically.
(f) The comptroller by rule shall establish a uniform date
on which all registration numbers issued under this section must be
renewed, regardless of the date on which a registration number is
initially issued. The rules must require registration numbers to
be renewed every four years.
(g) The comptroller may not issue a registration number that
contains the applicant's social security number.
(h) The comptroller, after written notice and a hearing, may
revoke the registration number issued to a person who fails to
comply with this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter, or
who is no longer eligible for a registration number. A person whose
registration number the comptroller proposes to revoke under this
section is entitled to 20 days' written notice of the time and place
of the hearing on the revocation. The notice must state the reason
the comptroller is seeking to revoke the person's registration
number. At the hearing the person must show cause why the person's
registration number should not be revoked.
(i) The comptroller shall give written notice of the
revocation of a registration number under Subsection (h) to the
person to whom the number was issued. The notice may be personally
served on the person or sent by mail to the person's address as
shown in the comptroller's records.
(j) If the comptroller revokes a person's registration
number under Subsection (h), the comptroller may not revive the
registration number unless the comptroller is satisfied that the
person will comply with this chapter and the rules adopted under
this chapter. The comptroller may prescribe the terms under which a
revoked registration number may be revived.
(k) Following the revocation of a registration number by the
comptroller, the person who held the registration number must, on
the next transaction with a seller to whom the person previously
provided an exemption certificate with a registration number,
notify that seller that the person's registration number is no
longer valid. The failure of a person to notify a seller as
required by this subsection is considered a failure and refusal to
pay the taxes imposed by this chapter by the person required to make
the notification.
(l) The comptroller shall develop and operate an online
system to enable a seller to search and verify the validity of the
registration number stated on an exemption certificate. A seller
is not required to use the online system.
(m) An exemption certificate that states a registration
number issued by the comptroller to claim an exemption to which this
section applies is sufficient documentation of the seller's receipt
of the certificate in good faith for purposes of Sections 151.054
and 151.104.
(n) The comptroller by rule shall establish procedures by
which a seller may accept a blanket exemption certificate with a
registration number issued by the comptroller to claim exemptions
under this section.
(o) A person eligible for a registration number who, at the
time of purchasing, leasing, renting, or otherwise consuming an
item for which the person may otherwise claim an exemption, has not
obtained a registration number from the comptroller must pay the
tax on the item to the seller at the time of the transaction. The
person may then apply for a registration number and, on receipt of
the number, may apply to the comptroller for a refund of the tax
paid, subject to the statute of limitations. The comptroller by
rule shall establish procedures for processing the refund requests.
Tax collected by a seller as described by this subsection is not tax
collected in error, and Section 111.104 does not apply to a refund
request submitted under this subsection.
(p) The comptroller may adopt rules to implement this
section.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.