Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4908 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R16379 RDS-F
2	2	By: Rodríguez Ramos H.B. No. 4908
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the establishment of the Texas prosperity payout fund;
10	10	imposing taxes on the gross revenues of and consumption by certain
11	11	industry participants; authorizing administrative penalties.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Texas Prosperity
14	14	Payout Act.
15	15	SECTION 2. Chapter 403, Government Code, is amended by
16	16	adding Subchapter V to read as follows:
17	17	SUBCHAPTER V. TEXAS PROSPERITY PAYOUT FUND
18	18	Sec. 403.701. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature
19	19	finds that:
20	20	(1) emerging industries, including artificial
21	21	intelligence and cryptocurrency mining, significantly impact this
22	22	state's energy, infrastructure, and workforce resources;
23	23	(2) revenue generated by these industries has not been
24	24	proportionately invested in the prosperity of the residents of this
25	25	state; and
26	26	(3) a permanent fund dividend can promote economic
27	27	stability, foster community resilience, and stimulate local
28	28	economies when implemented within appropriate constitutional and
29	29	fiscal parameters.
30	30	(b) The purpose of this subchapter is to establish a
31	31	permanent fund dividend benefiting adult Texans through a
32	32	revenue-supported structure that complies with the requirements of
33	33	Section 51, Article III, Texas Constitution, ensures fiscal
34	34	sustainability and transparency, and adheres to all applicable
35	35	constitutional provisions regarding the permissible uses of public
36	36	funds.
37	37	Sec. 403.702. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
38	38	(1) "Prosperity payout" means a payment made from the
39	39	Texas prosperity payout fund under Section 403.704.
40	40	(2) "Eligible resident" means an individual who:
41	41	(A) is a United States citizen or a lawful
42	42	permanent resident;
43	43	(B) is at least 18 years of age; and
44	44	(C) has resided in Texas for at least 12
45	45	consecutive months, verified through the individual's
46	46	government-issued identification or by applicable state records.
47	47	(3) "Fund" means the Texas prosperity payout fund
48	48	created under this subchapter.
49	49	Sec. 403.703. TEXAS PROSPERITY PAYOUT FUND. (a) The Texas
50	50	prosperity payout fund is created as a fund outside the state
51	51	treasury with the comptroller.
52	52	(b) The fund consists of:
53	53	(1) money transferred or deposited to the credit of
54	54	the fund by the constitution, general law, or the General
55	55	Appropriations Act;
56	56	(2) revenue that the legislature by general law
57	57	dedicates for deposit to the credit of the fund; and
58	58	(3) gifts, grants, and donations to the fund.
59	59	(c) The comptroller shall administer the fund and
60	60	distribute prosperity payouts to eligible residents in the manner
61	61	provided by Section 403.704.
62	62	(d) Notwithstanding any other law, money deposited to the
63	63	credit of the fund is automatically appropriated to the comptroller
64	64	for the purpose of making prosperity payouts and the comptroller
65	65	may spend money in the fund without further legislative
66	66	appropriation as necessary to carry out the purposes of this
67	67	subchapter.
68	68	Sec. 403.704. PROSPERITY PAYOUT. (a) The comptroller
69	69	shall issue a prosperity payout each month to each individual the
70	70	comptroller verifies is an eligible resident using money in the
71	71	fund. The amount of the prosperity payout to which each eligible
72	72	resident is entitled in a month is equal to the total amount of
73	73	money in the fund on the last day of the preceding month divided by
74	74	the number of eligible residents receiving a prosperity payout in
75	75	the applicable month.
76	76	(b) The comptroller shall adopt rules necessary to
77	77	implement and administer this section, including protocols for
78	78	verifying eligible residents and procedures for issuing prosperity
79	79	payouts.
80	80	(c) The comptroller shall recommend to the legislature any
81	81	adjustments to the rate of the taxes imposed under Chapter 210, Tax
82	82	Code, necessary to ensure continued funding for prosperity payouts.
83	83	(d) Prosperity payouts to eligible residents under this
84	84	subchapter are considered to be refunds of collected
85	85	industry-specific tax revenue to the public and shall serve the
86	86	public purposes of promoting economic stability and public
87	87	prosperity. As required by Section 51, Article III, Texas
88	88	Constitution, the legislature finds that the payment of a
89	89	prosperity payout is not gratuitous and is essential to mitigate
90	90	the public calamity caused by the economic impacts from the taxed
91	91	industries.
92	92	(e) The comptroller shall maintain a list of eligible
93	93	residents and implement procedures to regularly cross-reference
94	94	state vital statistics and residency records to identify and remove
95	95	individuals who are deceased or who have relocated out of this state
96	96	from the list of eligible residents. The comptroller must provide
97	97	an individual identified for removal from the list written notice
98	98	and provide the individual 30 days to appeal the comptroller's
99	99	determination before suspending the issuance of prosperity payouts
100	100	to the individual.
101	101	Sec. 403.705. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING. (a) Not later
102	102	than December 31 of each state fiscal year, the comptroller shall
103	103	prepare and issue a report to the lieutenant governor and the
104	104	speaker of the house of representatives on the administration of
105	105	the fund during that state fiscal year, including:
106	106	(1) the total amount of tax revenue collected under
107	107	Chapter 210, Tax Code, organized by industry, and deposited to the
108	108	credit of the fund;
109	109	(2) the total amount of money disbursed from the fund;
110	110	and
111	111	(3) economic impact assessments of each of the taxes
112	112	imposed by Chapter 210, Tax Code, and the prosperity payouts issued
113	113	under this subchapter with comparative metrics.
114	114	(b) The comptroller shall post the report prepared under
115	115	Subsection (a) on the comptroller's Internet website.
116	116	(c) An economic impact assessment required under this
117	117	section must be conducted by an independent third party using
118	118	generally accepted economic forecasting models. The report must
119	119	include baseline comparisons and anticipated long-term economic
120	120	effects on different segments of the population.
121	121	Sec. 403.706. OVERSIGHT AND AUDITING. (a) The state
122	122	auditor shall conduct an audit of the fund each calendar quarter to
123	123	ensure the integrity of the fund.
124	124	(b) An independent oversight committee composed of at least
125	125	seven members appointed by the governor shall annually review
126	126	economic impact data included in the report submitted by the
127	127	comptroller under Section 403.705. The members must include
128	128	representatives from the Legislative Budget Board and the state
129	129	auditor's office and at least three public members. A member of the
130	130	committee:
131	131	(1) must opt out of receiving prosperity payouts in
132	132	the manner provided by Section 403.707; and
133	133	(2) may not have a direct financial interest in an
134	134	entity that is subject to a tax under Chapter 210, Tax Code.
135	135	Sec. 403.707. AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT AND OPT OUT. (a) An
136	136	eligible recipient is automatically enrolled with the comptroller
137	137	to receive prosperity payouts.
138	138	(b) An individual who becomes an eligible recipient is
139	139	automatically enrolled with the comptroller effective on the first
140	140	day of the month following the month in which the individual first
141	141	meets the requirements of Section 403.702(2).
142	142	(c) An eligible recipient may opt out of receiving
143	143	prosperity payouts at any time through procedures established by
144	144	the comptroller. An eligible resident who opts out under this
145	145	subsection may opt back in at any time without penalty or delay in
146	146	payment other than standard processing times established by
147	147	comptroller rules.
148	148	Sec. 403.708. FRAUD PREVENTION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION;
149	149	APPEAL. (a) The comptroller shall implement verification
150	150	protocols to prevent fraudulent claims for prosperity payouts.
151	151	(b) An individual whom the comptroller determines is not an
152	152	eligible recipient may file an appeal. An appeal is conducted
153	153	before the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The appeal
154	154	must be filed not later than the 30th day after the date of the
155	155	comptroller's final determination of eligibility. The appellant
156	156	bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that the appellant is an
157	157	eligible recipient by a preponderance of the evidence.
158	158	(c) An appellant that faces an immediate financial hardship
159	159	due to the appellant's inability to receive a prosperity payout may
160	160	request an expedited review. The comptroller must issue a decision
161	161	not later than the 10th business day after the date of the request.
162	162	SECTION 3. Title 2, Tax Code, is amended by adding Subtitle
163	163	K to read as follows:
164	164	SUBTITLE K. INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC TAXES
165	165	CHAPTER 210. TAX ON INDUSTRY REVENUE AND CONSUMPTION
166	166	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
167	167	Sec. 210.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
168	168	(1) "Artificial intelligence infrastructure" means a
169	169	facility using computational resources exceeding 1,000 teraflops
170	170	per second.
171	171	(2) "Cloud service provider" means an entity offering
172	172	Internet-based infrastructure, platform, or software services with
173	173	annual data usage exceeding five petabytes.
174	174	(3) "Cryptocurrency mining operation" means a
175	175	facility consuming at least one megawatt-hour of electricity per
176	176	day or 30 megawatt-hours per month for cryptocurrency token
177	177	production.
178	178	(4) "Data center" means a facility consuming more than
179	179	two megawatt-hours of electricity per month dedicated to data
180	180	processing or storage.
181	181	(5) "Large software company" means a company
182	182	generating at least $50 million in annual revenue from the sale of
183	183	software-related products or services.
184	184	(6) "Telecommunications company" means a provider of
185	185	telecommunications services serving 500,000 or more subscribers in
186	186	this state.
187	187	Sec. 210.002. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS ON TAX UNIFORMITY. The
188	188	legislature finds that the taxes imposed under this chapter are
189	189	reasonably classified based on measurable industry impacts on state
190	190	infrastructure, energy use, and public welfare.
191	191	SUBCHAPTER B. TAXES IMPOSED
192	192	Sec. 210.051. ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION TAX. (a) Except as
193	193	provided by Subsection (c), a tax is imposed on electricity
194	194	consumption by a cryptocurrency mining operation during a calendar
195	195	month.
196	196	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is $0.10 per
197	197	kilowatt-hour consumed by the cryptocurrency mining operation.
198	198	(c) This section does not apply to a cryptocurrency mining
199	199	operation that consumes less than five megawatt-hours of
200	200	electricity during a calendar month.
201	201	Sec. 210.052. GROSS REVENUE TAX: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
202	202	INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection
203	203	(c), a tax is imposed on the gross revenue of an artificial
204	204	intelligence infrastructure facility during a calendar month.
205	205	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is six
206	206	percent of the gross revenue of the facility.
207	207	(c) This section does not apply to an artificial
208	208	intelligence infrastructure facility with an annual gross revenue
209	209	of less than $50 million during the preceding calendar year.
210	210	Sec. 210.053. GROSS REVENUE TAX: DATA CENTER. (a) Except
211	211	as provided by Subsection (c), a tax is imposed on the gross revenue
212	212	of a data center during a calendar month.
213	213	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is four
214	214	percent of the gross revenue of the data center.
215	215	(c) This section does not apply to a data center that
216	216	consumes less than five megawatt-hours of electricity during a
217	217	calendar month.
218	218	Sec. 210.054. GROSS REVENUE TAX: SEMICONDUCTOR
219	219	MANUFACTURER. (a) A tax is imposed on the gross revenue of a
220	220	semiconductor manufacturer during a calendar month.
221	221	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is two
222	222	percent of the gross revenue of the semiconductor manufacturer.
223	223	Sec. 210.055. GROSS REVENUE TAX: CLOUD SERVICES. (a) A tax
224	224	is imposed on the gross revenue of a cloud service provider during a
225	225	calendar month.
226	226	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is two
227	227	percent of the gross revenue of the cloud service provider.
228	228	Sec. 210.056. GROSS REVENUE TAX: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
229	229	COMPANY. (a) A tax is imposed on the gross revenue of a
230	230	telecommunications company during a calendar month.
231	231	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is two
232	232	percent of the gross revenue of the telecommunications company.
233	233	Sec. 210.057. GROSS REVENUE TAX: LARGE SOFTWARE COMPANY.
234	234	(a) A tax is imposed on the gross revenue of a large software
235	235	company during a calendar month.
236	236	(b) The rate of the tax imposed by this section is two
237	237	percent of the gross revenue of the large software company.
238	238	SUBCHAPTER C. REPORTING AND PAYMENT OF TAX
239	239	Sec. 210.101. COLLECTION; REPORT. (a) The comptroller
240	240	shall collect the taxes imposed under this chapter.
241	241	(b) Each person subject to a tax imposed under this chapter
242	242	shall file a report with the comptroller on or before the 20th day
243	243	of the calendar month following the month that is the subject of the
244	244	report.
245	245	(c) The comptroller shall prescribe the form and content of
246	246	the report required under this section. The comptroller may
247	247	require a person subject to a tax imposed under this chapter to
248	248	include with a report any information the comptroller determines
249	249	necessary to determine the amount of tax the person owes for the
250	250	period covered by the report.
251	251	Sec. 210.102. PAYMENT OF TAX. A person shall pay the tax
252	252	due on a report submitted under Section 210.101 with the report.
253	253	SUBCHAPTER D. ENFORCEMENT
254	254	Sec. 210.151. ENFORCEMENT; ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a)
255	255	The comptroller may audit a person subject to a tax imposed under
256	256	this chapter to ensure compliance with this chapter.
257	257	(b) A person that fails to submit a report required under
258	258	Section 210.101 is subject to an administrative penalty in an
259	259	amount determined by the comptroller not to exceed $10,000.
260	260	(c) A person that knowingly includes false information in a
261	261	report required under Section 210.101 is subject to an
262	262	administrative penalty in an amount determined by the comptroller
263	263	not to exceed $100,000.
264	264	(d) The comptroller shall adopt rules necessary to
265	265	implement and administer this section, including rules prescribing
266	266	audit and appeal procedures and deadlines for compliance with
267	267	reasonable requests for information made by the comptroller.
268	268	SUBCHAPTER E. ALLOCATION OF REVENUE
269	269	Sec. 210.201. DEPOSIT AND USE OF REVENUE. (a) All revenue
270	270	collected under this chapter shall be deposited to the credit of the
271	271	Texas prosperity payout fund established under Subchapter V,
272	272	Chapter 403, Government Code.
273	273	(b) Revenue deposited to the credit of the fund under this
274	274	section may not be used for any purpose other than to fund the
275	275	monthly payments described by Section 403.704, Government Code.
276	276	SECTION 4. Not later than January 1, 2026, the comptroller
277	277	of public accounts shall adopt rules necessary to implement
278	278	Subchapter V, Chapter 403, Government Code, and Chapter 210, Tax
279	279	Code, as added by this Act.
280	280	SECTION 5. An individual is not entitled to a payment under
281	281	Subchapter V, Chapter 403, Government Code, as added by this Act,
282	282	before July 1, 2026.
283	283	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.