H.B. No. 897
AN ACT
relating to the exemption from the taxes imposed on the sale, use,
or rental of certain motor vehicles owned or used by a church,
religious society, or open-enrollment charter school and from
registration fees for motor vehicles owned by open-enrollment
charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 152.001(7) and (12), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(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; or
(C) an open-enrollment charter school.
(12) "Motor vehicle used for religious purposes" means
a motor vehicle that is:
(A) a trailer or is designed to carry more than
six passengers;
(B) sold to, rented to, or used by a church or
religious society;
(C) used primarily by a church or religious
society [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.
SECTION 2. Section 502.453(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The owner of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer
may annually apply for registration under Section 502.451 and is
exempt from the payment of a registration fee under this chapter if
the vehicle is:
(1) owned by and used exclusively in the service of:
(A) the United States;
(B) this state; [or]
(C) a county, municipality, or school district in
this state; or
(D) an open-enrollment charter school;
(2) owned by a commercial transportation company and
used exclusively to provide public school transportation services
to a school district under Section 34.008, Education Code;
(3) designed and used exclusively for fire fighting;
(4) owned by a volunteer fire department and used
exclusively in the conduct of department business;
(5) privately owned and used by a volunteer
exclusively in county marine law enforcement activities, including
rescue operations, under the direction of the sheriff's department;
(6) used by law enforcement under an alias for covert
criminal investigations; or
(7) owned by units of the United States Coast Guard
Auxiliary headquartered in Texas and used exclusively for conduct
of United States Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary business and
operations, including search and rescue, emergency communications,
and disaster operations.
SECTION 3. 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 897 was passed by the House on April
13, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 3 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 897 on May 26, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 897 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor