Bill Text: TX SB590 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the amount of the discount allowed for prepayment of sales and use taxes and the allocation of certain revenue from those taxes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-23 - Referred to Finance [SB590 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB590-Introduced.html

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84R637 CJC-D
By: Ellis S.B. No. 590

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the amount of the discount allowed for prepayment of
sales and use taxes and the allocation of certain revenue from those
taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 151.424, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (e), and (f)
to read as follows:
(a) In addition to the amount permitted to be deducted and
withheld under Section 151.423, a [A] taxpayer who prepays the
taxpayer's tax liability on the basis of a reasonable estimate of
the tax liability for a quarter in which a prepayment is made or for
a month in which a prepayment is made may deduct and withhold the
lesser of the following, as determined by the comptroller under
Subsection (e):
(1) 1.25 percent of the amount of the prepayment; or
(2) an annually adjusted percentage of the amount of
the prepayment that yields an annualized rate of return equal to the
prime rate as published in The Wall Street Journal on the first
business day of each calendar year, plus four percent [in addition
to the amount permitted to be deducted and withheld under Section
151.423 of this code].
(a-1) A reasonable estimate of the tax liability under
Subsection (a) must be at least 90 percent of the tax ultimately due
or the amount of tax paid in the same quarter, or month, if a monthly
prepayer, in the last preceding year. Failure to prepay a
reasonable estimate of the tax will result in the loss of the entire
prepayment discount.
(e) Not later than January 5 of each year, the comptroller
shall:
(1) determine the percentage of a taxpayer's
prepayment that may be deducted and withheld under Subsection (a);
and
(2) publish the percentage determined under this
subsection on the comptroller's Internet website.
(f) The percentage determined under Subsection (e) applies
to a deduction and withholding from a prepayment of tax liability
that a taxpayer makes on or after January 15 of the year the
comptroller makes the determination and before January 15 of the
succeeding year.
SECTION 2. Section 151.801, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-2) to read as
follows:
(a) Except for the amounts allocated under Subsections
(a-2), (b), and (c), all proceeds from the collection of the taxes
imposed by this chapter shall be deposited to the credit of the
general revenue fund.
(a-2) If the percentage determined under Section
151.424(a)(2) applies in determining the amount a taxpayer may
deduct and withhold under Section 151.424 from taxes imposed by
this chapter, the comptroller shall determine the difference
between the amount the taxpayer would deduct and withhold if the
percentage under Section 151.424(a)(1) applied and the amount the
taxpayer actually deducts and withholds under Section
151.424(a)(2). The comptroller shall deposit an amount equal to
that difference in an account in the general revenue fund to be
administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Money in the account may be appropriated only to provide grants
under Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code.
SECTION 3. The comptroller of public accounts shall make
the initial determination required by Section 151.424(e), Tax Code,
as added by this Act, not later than January 5, 2016.
SECTION 4. Section 151.424, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, applies to a prepayment of tax liability made on or after
January 15, 2016. A prepayment of tax liability made before January
15, 2016, is governed by the law in effect immediately preceding the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.