HCS#2/SCS/SB 100 - The act modifies laws regarding the collection of moneys owed to the state. The Director of the Department of Revenue is authorized to retain one percent of the amount of any local sales or use taxes collected by the department for the cost of collection. Beginning January 1, 2012, a statement of no tax due will be required for the issuance or renewal of all city and county occupation licenses as well as all state licenses required to conduct business. Such statement must be dated not more than sixty days from the date of application for license to be valid. The Director of Revenue may enter into an agreement with any state agency responsible for issuing any state license requiring the agency to provide the department with the name and tax identification number of each applicant for licensure within one month of the date the application is filed or at least one month prior to the anticipated license renewal. If an applicant is delinquent on any taxes, the department director must send a notice to the licensing agency and the applicant. An applicant's license must be suspended within 90 days after the notice unless: the taxes are paid; an arrangement has been made with the department to pay the taxes; the taxes were paid under protest; or the tax liability is found to be reasonably disputed. Anyone making a claim or having a judgment under the provisions of the State Legal Expense Fund must have a no-tax due statement from the department before any moneys can be expended from the fund for the settlement of any liability claim. The act allows an offset from the State Legal Expense Fund to satisfy any delinquent tax debt owed before payment is made to the person. Payments of $10,000 or greater from the fund for property damage claims are not required to have a no-tax due statement.
The act provides taxpayers with amnesty from the assessment or payment of all penalties, additions to tax, and interest on delinquencies of unpaid taxes administered by the department which occurred on or prior to December 31, 2010. To receive amnesty under the act, a taxpayer must: apply for amnesty; file a tax return for each tax period for which amnesty is requested; pay the unpaid taxes in full from August 1, 2011, to October 31, 2011; and agree to comply with state tax laws for the next eight years from the date of the agreement. All new revenues resulting from the tax amnesty program will be deposited into the General Revenue Fund unless otherwise earmarked by the Missouri Constitution. State agencies may refer any debt owed to them to the department for the collection. The department and the referring state agency may exchange necessary information but must comply with federal and state laws regarding the confidentiality of information and records. The department may compromise any referred state debt and use all general remedies afforded creditors of Missouri, remedies specific to the referring state agency, and remedies afforded the state in general. Unless a judgment or lien was filed prior to the agency referring the debt to the department, the venue for any suit filed for the collection of state debt will be in Cole County.
The department can employ staff, attorneys, the Attorney General, prosecuting attorneys, and private collection agencies to aid in the collection of debt. The department must add 10% to the amount of debt to be collected for the cost of collection which may be waived under certain conditions.
The director of revenue may issue an administrative garnishment once he or she has filed a certificate of lien in the circuit court for delinquent income or sales or use taxes. Any person receiving this order must turn over any of the taxpayer's assets in his or her possession and any assets that are to become due the taxpayer including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, workers' compensation benefits, disability benefits, pension or retirement payments, and interest less a fee to cover costs of no more than $6 per month. The taxpayer may obtain relief from the garnishment by paying the total amount owed.
Beginning January 1, 2012, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must provide the Director of Revenue, at least annually, the name and Social Security number of each certificate holder or applicant for a certificate of license to teach in Missouri. The Director of the Department of Revenue must at least annually a year verify that all income taxes have been paid and state income tax returns have been filed in the past three years and send a notice to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the certificate holder or applicant if a person has not paid his or her taxes or filed the tax returns. A certificate holder's license will be suspended within 90 days after the notice, and an applicant's license cannot be issued unless: the taxes are paid; an arrangement has been made with the Department of Revenue to pay the taxes; the taxes were paid under protest; or the tax liability is found to be reasonably disputed.
The Director of the Department of Revenue and the Commissioner of the Office of Administration may enter into a reciprocal agreement with the federal government or any other state to offset vendor and contractor payments for any type of debt owed to the state. Currently, the department has a reciprocal agreement with the United States Treasury to offset income tax overpayments.
The provisions regarding the tax amnesty contain an emergency clause.
The act prohibits the approval of projects under the Development Tax Credit program after June 30, 2011.
The act creates a refundable income and financial institutions tax credit which may be available for sports commissions, convention and visitors bureaus, certain nonprofit organizations, counties, and municipalities to offset expenses incurred in attracting sporting events to the state. Applicants for the tax credit must submit game support contracts to the department of economic development for approval. The tax credit will be equal to the lesser of five dollars for each admission ticket sold for the event or one hundred percent of eligible expenses incurred. No more than three million dollars in tax credits may be issued per fiscal year. The tax credits are fully transferrable, provided a notarized endorsement is filed with the department of economic development. The department of economic development is prohibited from certifying game support contracts after August 28, 2017, but may certify game support contracts prior to such date which pertain to games to be held after August 10, 2017.
The act also creates an income tax credit equal to fifty percent of the amount of an eligible donation made, on or after January 1, 2010, to a certified sponsor or local organizing committee for the purposes of attracting sporting events to the state. The tax credit may not be applied against withholding taxes. The tax credit is non-refundable, but may be carried forward four years. The tax credit is transferable. Certified sponsors and local organizing committees may apply to the department of economic development for the tax credits. Applications for tax credits must be accompanied by payment in an amount equal to the tax credits requested. The department of economic development is prohibited from issuing more than ten million dollars in tax credits each fiscal year. The provisions of this act shall automatically sunset four years after the effective date of the act unless reauthorized.
The act phases out the tax credit available to renters under the property tax credit program. After January 1, 2015, no tax credits will be available for renters under the program.
Beginning January 1, 2012, the annual cap on neighborhood preservation tax credits is reduced from $16 million to $10 million. The maximum tax credit for a project consisting of multiple-unit qualifying residences in a distressed community cannot exceed $3 million. Tax credits will be allocated among projects located within qualifying and eligible areas based upon demand. No tax credits provided under these provisions can be issued on or after August 28, 2014.
The act extends the sunset on the pregnancy resource center tax credit from August 28, 2012, to August 28, 2019. The sunset on the food pantry tax credit is extended from August 28, 2011, to August 28, 2019.
Under current law, residential treatment agencies are prohibited from applying for residential treatment agency tax credits in an amount greater than forty percent of the payments received by the agency from the Department of Social Services. This act would allow residential treatment agencies to apply for such tax credits in an amount which does not exceed the amount of payments received by the agency from the Department of Social Services. The act also extends the sunset on the residential treatment agency tax credit from August 28, 2012, to August 28, 2015.
The act creates an income tax credit equal to fifty percent of the amount of an eligible donation made, on or after January 1, 2010, to a qualifying developmental disability care provider. The tax credit may not be applied against withholding taxes. The tax credit is non-refundable, but may be carried forward four years. The tax credit is transferable. A provider may apply to the Department of Revenue for the tax credits. The provisions of this act shall automatically sunset four years after the effective date of the act unless reauthorized.
The Aerotropolis Trade Incentive and Tax Credit Act is established, which authorizes the City of St. Louis or any county to designate certain areas as gateway zones. Any such municipality that designates an area as a gateway zone will be required to establish a board of supervisors that will annually levy special assessments on facilities located within the zone which receive benefits provided under the act. Revenues derived from the special assessments will be expended to promote and advertise the gateway zone.
For all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, the act authorizes air export tax credits for freight forwarders in an amount equal to thirty cents per chargeable kilo shipped on a qualifying outbound flight. In lieu of the previously mentioned tax credit, a freight forwarder will be entitled to an air export tax credit equal to thirty-five cents per chargeable kilo if the shipment contains perishable freight. The department of economic development is required to adjust the tax credit amounts based upon fluctuations in fuel costs for over-the-road transportation. In order to receive air export tax credits, freight forwarders must file an application with the department containing the master airway bill for the shipment. The act requires the department to establish procedures to allow freight forwarders to receive air export tax credits within fifteen business days of the departure of the qualifying flight.
The total amount of air export tax credits which may be authorized under the act cannot exceed sixty million dollars. The act establishes annual caps on issuance of air export tax credits, and to the extent that in any given year more tax credits are authorized than may be issued, the amount in excess of the cap on issuance will be carried forward for issuance in the following year. The authorization of air export tax credits is prohibited after January 1, 2019, but the act allows for the subsequent issuance of any tax credits which are authorized prior to such date.
For all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, any tenant operating within an eligible facility which satisfies the requirements of the act and employees of such tenant will be entitled to an exemption from local earnings taxes imposed by the City of St. Louis for a period of up to seven years.
For all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, owners of qualified facilities, in which at least twenty percent of the total cargo activity consists of international cargo, will be entitled to receive tax credits over a seven-year period equal to six percent of the eligible costs of such facility. The total amount of tax credits issued to such an owner cannot exceed thirty percent of the facility's eligible costs. Owners of qualified facilities, in which at least ten percent of the total cargo activity consists of international cargo, as well as any qualifying assembly and manufacturing, or qualifying cold-chain facility will be entitled to receive tax credits over a seven-year period equal to four percent of the eligible costs of such facility. The total amount of tax credits issued to such an owner cannot exceed twenty percent of the facility's eligible costs.
In order to receive tax incentives provided under the act, owners and tenants of qualifying facilities and entities operating within such facilities must file applications with the department of economic development accompanied by a certificate of compliance. The act establishes limits on the amount of tax credits which may be issued annually to owners of qualifying facilities. No more than three hundred million dollars in tax credits, based upon the eligible costs of a qualifying facility, may be authorized for owners of qualified facilities under the act.
All tax credits provided under the act will be fully transferrable and non-refundable, but may be carried forward up to six years.
The provisions of the act establishing the aerotropolis trade incentive and tax credit act will automatically sunset eight years from the effective date of the act unless reauthorized.
The act establishes the Missouri Science and Reinvestment Act which subject to appropriation will provide funding for incentives to attract science and innovation companies to the state.
The employment of an individual as the executive director of the Missouri Housing Development Commission will be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The executive director will serve in such capacity for a term of three years. Reappointments to the position are permissible but will be subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. The executive director only can implement policies that have been presented by the executive director and approved by the commission. The operating budget of the commission will be subject to annual appropriation.
The act limits the total amount of historic preservation tax credits that the Department of Economic Development can approve annually to $115 million, beginning July 1, 2011. For all applications for tax credits approved on or after July 1, 2011, no more than $250,000 may be issued for eligible costs and expenses incurred in the rehabilitation of certain eligible property. The act provides that certain expenses for the rehabilitation of an historic structure that are incurred by a taxpayer for up to one year before the submission date of a preliminary application for an historic structures rehabilitation tax credit may be deemed qualified expenses but are incurred at the taxpayer's risk. A taxpayer is authorized to submit a preliminary application for tax credit approval if the taxpayer has submitted the necessary documentation to qualify the property as an eligible property and a certified historic structure or as a structure in a certified historic district. A taxpayer or his or her authorized representative may appeal any official decision on a preliminary or final application to an independent third-party appeals officer designated by the department. The requires that at least 20% of the fees collected from recipients of tax credits and other moneys deposited into the Economic Development Advancement Fund be used for administration of the Historic Structures Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, to be divided equally between the Department of Economic Development and the State Historic Preservation Fund.
Eligible expenses for brownfield remediation tax credits are expanded to include environmental insurance premiums and backfill of areas where contaminated soil excavation occurs.
Provisions of the Missouri Quality Jobs Act are modified to provide additional benefits for job retention projects. In lieu of all other job retention benefits currently available under the Quality Jobs Act, a qualified company may be eligible to retain one hundred percent of withholding taxes for all full-time employees for up to ten years, if such company retains at least one hundred and twenty-five jobs over a ten year period and within two years makes capital investment at the facility equal to no less than three times the amount of benefits received. The department of economic development is prohibited from authorizing the retention of withholdings taxes in excess of:
1) Three million dollars for FY 2012;
2) Four million dollars for FY 2013;
3) Five million dollars for FY 2014; and
4) Six million dollars for FY 2015 and each subsequent fiscal year.
In addition, a qualified company may receive refundable tax credits equal to one hundred percent of withholdings taxes for full-time employees that such company could otherwise retain over a five-year period. Such tax credits will be subject to appropriation. The department of economic development is prohibited from awarding an amount of job retention benefits to any project which would exceed the net state benefit of the project.
This act would allow the owner of a cleanfields renewable energy demonstration park, which contains a biomass facility, to receive double renewable energy credits for certain energy generation and purchases. To receive such credits, the project must create at least fifty new jobs, with an average wage equal to or in excess of the county average wage, and retain at least fifty existing jobs. The owner must offer health insurance to all employees and pay at least fifty percent of such premiums. Applications to receive double renewable energy credit must be submitted to the Department of Economic Development. The Department of Economic Development, in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources, will verify applications and if approved, forward the application and approval to the Public Service Commission. Upon receipt of an approved application, the Public Service Commission will assign double renewable energy credit for renewable energy resources purchased from the biomass facility by an electric supplier, and electric power generated off-site through the use of biomass fuel purchased from a biomass facility located at the park or by renewable energy resources utilizing storage equipment manufactured at the park.
The act insurance company claiming a state premium tax credit or deduction from be required to pay any additional retaliatory tax under Section 375.916 as a result of claiming the credit or deduction.
The act contains an emergency clause for the provisions regarding the tax amnesty program, the aerotropolis Trade incentive and tax credit act, and the cleansfield renewable energy demonstration project program.
This act contains provisions similar to those contained in Senate Bill 608 (2010) and contains provisions similar to those in Senate Bill 71 (2009) and Senate Bill 1274 (2008).
JASON ZAMKUS