Bill Text: CA AB585 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Outdoor Water Efficiency Act of 2015: personal income tax credits: outdoor water efficiency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB585 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB585-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 585 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Melendez
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
An act to add and repeal Section 17053.37 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax
levy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 585, as amended, Melendez. Outdoor Water Efficiency Act of
2015: personal income tax credits: outdoor water efficiency.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the
taxes imposed by that law.
This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1,
2015, 2016, and before January 1, 2021,
or an earlier specified date, would allow a
credit equal to 25% of the amount paid or incurred by a qualified
taxpayer for water-efficiency improvements made to outdoor
landscapes improvements, as defined, on
qualified real property in this state, not to exceed $2,500 per
taxable year, as specified. The bill would limit the cumulative
amount of the credit to $2,500 for each qualified real property for
all taxable years. The bill would require a qualified taxpayer to
obtain and retain a certification of the water-efficiency
improvements from the appropriate regional or local water agency
after completion of the improvements and to provide a copy of this
certification to the Franchise Tax Board upon request.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The 2014 water year, ending on September 30, was the third
driest based on the 119-year long statewide precipitation record.
(b) Temperatures in the first nine months of 2014 were
record breaking-4.1 a record -breaking 4.1
degrees above the 20th century average across the state.
(c) Responding to these unprecedented dry and hot conditions, the
United States Drought Monitor classified more than 80 percent of
California in an "extreme" drought condition, with 58 percent of
California in an "exceptional" drought, the highest condition.
(d) On January 17, 2014, the Governor called upon retail water
providers throughout California to reduce residential per capita
water use by 20 percent as compared to 2013 levels.
(e) Outdoor water use accounts for the highest percentage of
regional water use.
(f) Landscape design, installation, maintenance, and management
can and should be water efficient. The use of water-efficient
landscapes contributes to the state's efforts to increase the
reliability of its water supplies.
(g) Municipalities and local water agencies are tasked with
enforcing water conservation ordinances to eliminate water waste and
restrict outdoor water use.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide an income tax
credit for the purchase of outdoor water use efficiency improvements
during the exceptional drought that California is facing.
SEC. 2. Section 17053.37 is added to the Revenue and Taxation
Code, to read:
17053.37. (a) For each taxable year beginning on or after January
1, 2015, 2016, and before January 1,
2021, there shall be allowed as a credit against the "net tax," as
defined in Section 17039, an amount equal to 25 percent of the amount
paid or incurred during the taxable year by a qualified taxpayer for
water-efficiency improvements for outdoor landscapes on qualified
real property in this state, not state.
(b) The credit shall not exceed
two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per taxable year.
year for each qualified real property. For each
qualified real property, the credit allowed under thi s
section shall not cumulatively exceed two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) for all taxable years.
(b)
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Multifamily residential real property" means any real
property that is improved with, or consisting of, a building
containing more than one unit that is intended for human habitation,
or any mixed residential-commercial buildings or portions thereof
that are intended for human habitation. Multifamily residential real
property includes residential hotels but does not include hotels and
motels that are not residential hotels.
(2)
(1) "Qualified real property" means either
multifamily residential real property or single-family real property.
a principal residence of the qualified taxpayer,
within the meaning of Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code,
relating to exclusion of gain from sale of principal residence, in
this state.
(3)
(2) "Qualified taxpayer" means the owner of any
qualified real property.
(4) "Single-family residential real property" means any real
property that is improved with, or consisting of, a building
containing not more than one unit that is intended for human
habitation.
(5) "Water efficiency
(3) (A)
"Water-efficiency improvements" means expenditures
voluntarily paid or incurred by the qualified taxpayer
to meet the requirements of that are certified by the
appropriate regional or local water agency as water-efficient
improvements compatible with any of the following:
(A)
(i) A local water-efficient landscape ordinance of
a regional or local water agency adopted or in effect
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65595 of the Government Code.
at the time the improvements are made.
(B) A local landscape regulation or restriction on the use of
water adopted pursuant to Section 353 or Section 375 of the Water
Code.
(ii) The state water-efficient landscape statutes adopted or in
effect at the time the improvements are made.
(C)
(iii) A water-efficient landscape program that is
developed and implemented by a regional or local water agency for the
specific purpose of reducing water use.
(B) "Water-efficiency improvements" do not include improvements
performed to bring landscaping into mandatory compliance with a local
water-efficient landscape ordinance or state law.
(d) A qualified taxpayer shall:
(A) Obtain certification of the water-efficiency improvements from
the appropriate regional or local water agency specified in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) after completion of those
improvements.
(B) Retain a copy of the certification specified in subparagraph
(A) and, upon request, provide a copy of that certification to the
Franchise Tax Board.
(e) This credit shall be in lieu of any other credit or deduction
that the qualified taxpayer may otherwise claim pursuant to this part
with respect to the amounts paid or incurred for water-efficiency
improvements for outdoor landscapes on qualified real property in
this state.
(f) In the case where the credit allowed under this section
exceeds the "net tax," as defined by Section 17039, for a taxable
year, the excess credit may be carried over to reduce the "net tax"
in the following taxable year, and succeeding three taxable years, if
necessary, until the credit has been exhausted.
(c)
(g) Section 41 does not apply to the credit allowed by
this section.
(d) This section shall remain in effect until December 1, 2021,
unless the drought state of emergency declared by the Governor on
January 17, 2014, is terminated before that date, in accordance with
Section 8629 of the Government Code. In that event, this section
shall remain in effect only until midnight on the first day of the
first calendar quarter commencing more than 60 days after the date of
the termination of the state of emergency, or until December 1,
2021, whichever is earlier, and credits shall be allowed only for
that portion of the taxable year before the date this section becomes
inoperative.
(e) This section is repealed on December 1, 2021.
(h) This section shall remain in effect until December 1, 2021,
and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 3. This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of
Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.
