Bill Text: HI SB2041 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: General Excise Tax; Increase; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Acquisition and Management of Agricultural Lands

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-15 - Referred to AGL/WTL, WAM. [SB2041 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-SB2041-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2041
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO STATE FINANCES.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

PART I

     SECTION 1.  Section 237-13, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§237-13  Imposition of tax.  There is hereby levied and shall be assessed and collected annually privilege taxes against persons on account of their business and other activities in the State measured by the application of rates against values of products, gross proceeds of sales, or gross income, whichever is specified, as follows:

     (1)  Tax on manufacturers.

         (A)  Upon every person engaging or continuing within the State in the business of manufacturing, including compounding, canning, preserving, packing, printing, publishing, milling, processing, refining, or preparing for sale, profit, or commercial use, either directly or through the activity of others, in whole or in part, any article or articles, substance or substances, commodity or commodities, the amount of the tax to be equal to the value of the articles, substances, or commodities, manufactured, compounded, canned, preserved, packed, printed, milled, processed, refined, or prepared for sale, as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the manufacturer or person compounding, preparing, or printing them, multiplied by one-half of one per cent.

         (B)  The measure of the tax on manufacturers is the value of the entire product for sale, regardless of the place of sale or the fact that deliveries may be made to points outside the State.

         (C)  If any person liable for the tax on manufacturers ships or transports the person's product, or any part thereof, out of the State, whether in a finished or unfinished condition, or sells the same for delivery to points outside the State (for example, consigned to a mainland purchaser via common carrier f.o.b. Honolulu), the value of the products in the condition or form in which they exist immediately before entering interstate or foreign commerce, determined as hereinafter provided, shall be the basis for the assessment of the tax imposed by this paragraph.  This tax shall be due and payable as of the date of entry of the products into interstate or foreign commerce, whether the products are then sold or not.  The department shall determine the basis for assessment, as provided by this paragraph, as follows:

              (i)  If the products at the time of their entry into interstate or foreign commerce already have been sold, the gross proceeds of sale, less the transportation expenses, if any, incurred in realizing the gross proceeds for transportation from the time of entry of the products into interstate or foreign commerce, including insurance and storage in transit, shall be the measure of the value of the products;

             (ii)  If the products have not been sold at the time of their entry into interstate or foreign commerce, and in cases governed by clause (i) in which the products are sold under circumstances such that the gross proceeds of sale are not indicative of the true value of the products, the value of the products constituting the basis for assessment shall correspond as nearly as possible to the gross proceeds of sales for delivery outside the State, adjusted as provided in clause (i), or if sufficient data are not available, sales in the State, of similar products of like quality and character and in similar quantities, made by the taxpayer (unless not indicative of the true value) or by others.  Sales outside the State, adjusted as provided in clause (i), may be considered when they constitute the best available data.  The department shall prescribe uniform and equitable rules for ascertaining the values;

            (iii)  At the election of the taxpayer and with the approval of the department, the taxpayer may make the taxpayer's returns under clause (i) even though the products have not been sold at the time of their entry into interstate or foreign commerce; and

             (iv)  In all cases in which products leave the State in an unfinished condition, the basis for assessment shall be adjusted so as to deduct the portion of the value as is attributable to the finishing of the goods outside the State.

     (2)  Tax on business of selling tangible personal property; producing.

         (A)  Upon every person engaging or continuing in the business of selling any tangible personal property whatsoever (not including, however, bonds or other evidence of indebtedness, or stocks), there is likewise hereby levied, and shall be assessed and collected, a tax equivalent to [four] five per cent of the gross proceeds of sales of the business; provided that insofar as the sale of tangible personal property is a wholesale sale under section [[]237-4(a)(8)[]], the sale shall be subject to section 237-13.3.  Upon every person engaging or continuing within this State in the business of a producer, the tax shall be equal to one-half of one per cent of the gross proceeds of sales of the business, or the value of the products, for sale, if sold for delivery outside the State or shipped or transported out of the State, and the value of the products shall be determined in the same manner as the value of manufactured products covered in the cases under paragraph (1)(C).

         (B)  Gross proceeds of sales of tangible property in interstate and foreign commerce shall constitute a part of the measure of the tax imposed on persons in the business of selling tangible personal property, to the extent, under the conditions, and in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and the Acts of the Congress of the United States which may be now in force or may be hereafter adopted, and whenever there occurs in the State an activity to which, under the Constitution and Acts of Congress, there may be attributed gross proceeds of sales, the gross proceeds shall be so attributed.

         (C)  No manufacturer or producer, engaged in such business in the State and selling the manufacturer's or producer's products for delivery outside of the State (for example, consigned to a mainland purchaser via common carrier f.o.b. Honolulu), shall be required to pay the tax imposed in this chapter for the privilege of so selling the products, and the value or gross proceeds of sales of the products shall be included only in determining the measure of the tax imposed upon the manufacturer or producer.

         (D)  When a manufacturer or producer, engaged in such business in the State, also is engaged in selling the manufacturer's or producer's products in the State at wholesale, retail, or in any other manner, the tax for the privilege of engaging in the business of selling the products in the State shall apply to the manufacturer or producer as well as the tax for the privilege of manufacturing or producing in the State, and the manufacturer or producer shall make the returns of the gross proceeds of the wholesale, retail, or other sales required for the privilege of selling in the State, as well as making the returns of the value or gross proceeds of sales of the products required for the privilege of manufacturing or producing in the State.  The manufacturer or producer shall pay the tax imposed in this chapter for the privilege of selling its products in the State, and the value or gross proceeds of sales of the products, thus subjected to tax, may be deducted insofar as duplicated as to the same products by the measure of the tax upon the manufacturer or producer for the privilege of manufacturing or producing in the State; provided that no producer of agricultural products who sells the products to a purchaser who will process the products outside the State shall be required to pay the tax imposed in this chapter for the privilege of producing or selling those products.

         (E)  A taxpayer selling to a federal cost-plus contractor may make the election provided for by paragraph (3)(C), and in that case the tax shall be computed pursuant to the election, notwithstanding this paragraph or paragraph (1) to the contrary.

         (F)  The department, by rule, may require that a seller take from the purchaser of tangible personal property a certificate, in a form prescribed by the department, certifying that the sale is a sale at wholesale; provided that:

              (i)  Any purchaser who furnishes a certificate shall be obligated to pay to the seller, upon demand, the amount of the additional tax that is imposed upon the seller whenever the sale in fact is not at wholesale; and

             (ii)  The absence of a certificate in itself shall give rise to the presumption that the sale is not at wholesale unless the sales of the business are exclusively at wholesale.

     (3)  Tax upon contractors.

         (A)  Upon every person engaging or continuing within the State in the business of contracting, the tax shall be equal to [four] five per cent of the gross income of the business.

         (B)  In computing the tax levied under this paragraph, there shall be deducted from the gross income of the taxpayer so much thereof as has been included in the measure of the tax levied under subparagraph (A), on:

              (i)  Another taxpayer who is a contractor, as defined in section 237-6;

             (ii)  A specialty contractor, duly licensed by the department of commerce and consumer affairs pursuant to section 444-9, in respect of the specialty contractor's business; or

            (iii)  A specialty contractor who is not licensed by the department of commerce and consumer affairs pursuant to section 444-9, but who performs contracting activities on federal military installations and nowhere else in this State;

              provided that any person claiming a deduction under this paragraph shall be required to show in the person's return the name and general excise number of the person paying the tax on the amount deducted by the person.

         (C)  In computing the tax levied under this paragraph against any federal cost-plus contractor, there shall be excluded from the gross income of the contractor so much thereof as fulfills the following requirements:

              (i)  The gross income exempted shall constitute reimbursement of costs incurred for materials, plant, or equipment purchased from a taxpayer licensed under this chapter, not exceeding the gross proceeds of sale of the taxpayer on account of the transaction; and

             (ii)  The taxpayer making the sale shall have certified to the department that the taxpayer is taxable with respect to the gross proceeds of the sale, and that the taxpayer elects to have the tax on gross income computed the same as upon a sale to the state government.

         (D)  A person who, as a business or as a part of a business in which the person is engaged, erects, constructs, or improves any building or structure, of any kind or description, or makes, constructs, or improves any road, street, sidewalk, sewer, or water system, or other improvements on land held by the person (whether held as a leasehold, fee simple, or otherwise), upon the sale or other disposition of the land or improvements, even if the work was not done pursuant to a contract, shall be liable to the same tax as if engaged in the business of contracting, unless the person shows that at the time the person was engaged in making the improvements the person intended, and for the period of at least one year after completion of the building, structure, or other improvements the person continued to intend to hold and not sell or otherwise dispose of the land or improvements.  The tax in respect of the improvements shall be measured by the amount of the proceeds of the sale or other disposition that is attributable to the erection, construction, or improvement of such building or structure, or the making, constructing, or improving of the road, street, sidewalk, sewer, or water system, or other improvements.  The measure of tax in respect of the improvements shall not exceed the amount which would have been taxable had the work been performed by another, subject as in other cases to the deductions allowed by subparagraph (B).  Upon the election of the taxpayer, this paragraph may be applied notwithstanding that the improvements were not made by the taxpayer, or were not made as a business or as a part of a business, or were made with the intention of holding the same.  However, this paragraph shall not apply in respect of any proceeds that constitute or are in the nature of rent; all such gross income shall be taxable under paragraph (9); provided that insofar as the business of renting or leasing real property under a lease is taxed under section 237-16.5, the tax shall be levied by section 237-16.5.

     (4)  Tax upon theaters, amusements, radio broadcasting stations, etc.

         (A)  Upon every person engaging or continuing within the State in the business of operating a theater, opera house, moving picture show, vaudeville, amusement park, dance hall, skating rink, radio broadcasting station, or any other place at which amusements are offered to the public, the tax shall be equal to [four] five per cent of the gross income of the business, and in the case of a sale of an amusement at wholesale under section 237-4(a)(13), the tax shall be subject to section 237-13.3.

         (B)  The department may require that the person rendering an amusement at wholesale take from the licensed seller a certificate, in a form prescribed by the department, certifying that the sale is a sale at wholesale; provided that:

              (i)  Any licensed seller who furnishes a certificate shall be obligated to pay to the person rendering the amusement, upon demand, the amount of additional tax that is imposed upon the seller whenever the sale is not at wholesale; and

             (ii)  The absence of a certificate in itself shall give rise to the presumption that the sale is not at wholesale unless the person rendering the sale is exclusively rendering the amusement at wholesale.

     (5)  Tax upon sales representatives, etc.  Upon every person classified as a representative or purchasing agent under section 237-1, engaging or continuing within the State in the business of performing services for another, other than as an employee, there is likewise hereby levied and shall be assessed and collected a tax equal to [four] five per cent of the commissions and other compensation attributable to the services so rendered by the person.

     (6)  Tax on service business.

         (A)  Upon every person engaging or continuing within the State in any service business or calling including professional services not otherwise specifically taxed under this chapter, there is likewise hereby levied and shall be assessed and collected a tax equal to [four] five per cent of the gross income of the business, and in the case of a wholesaler under section 237-4(a)(10), the tax shall be equal to one-half of one per cent of the gross income of the business.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, a wholesaler under section 237-4(a)(10) shall be subject to section 237-13.3.

         (B)  The department may require that the person rendering a service at wholesale take from the licensed seller a certificate, in a form prescribed by the department, certifying that the sale is a sale at wholesale; provided that:

              (i)  Any licensed seller who furnishes a certificate shall be obligated to pay to the person rendering the service, upon demand, the amount of additional tax that is imposed upon the seller whenever the sale is not at wholesale; and

             (ii)  The absence of a certificate in itself shall give rise to the presumption that the sale is not at wholesale unless the person rendering the sale is exclusively rendering services at wholesale.

         (C)  Where any person is engaged in the business of selling interstate or foreign common carrier telecommunication services within and without the State, other than as a home service provider, the tax shall be imposed on that portion of gross income received by a person from service which is originated or terminated in this State and is charged to a telephone number, customer, or account in this State notwithstanding any other state law (except for the exemption under section 237-23(a)(1)) to the contrary.  If, under the Constitution and laws of the United States, the entire gross income as determined under this paragraph of a business selling interstate or foreign common carrier telecommunication services cannot be included in the measure of the tax, the gross income shall be apportioned as provided in section 237-21; provided that the apportionment factor and formula shall be the same for all persons providing those services in the State.

         (D)  Where any person is engaged in the business of a home service provider, the tax shall be imposed on the gross income received or derived from providing interstate or foreign mobile telecommunications services to a customer with a place of primary use in this State when such services originate in one state and terminate in another state, territory, or foreign country; provided that all charges for mobile telecommunications services which are billed by or for the home service provider are deemed to be provided by the home service provider at the customer's place of primary use, regardless of where the mobile telecommunications originate, terminate, or pass through; provided further that the income from charges specifically derived from interstate or foreign mobile telecommunications services, as determined by books and records that are kept in the regular course of business by the home service provider in accordance with section 239-24, shall be apportioned under any apportionment factor or formula adopted under subparagraph (C).  Gross income shall not include:

              (i)  Gross receipts from mobile telecommunications services provided to a customer with a place of primary use outside this State;

             (ii)  Gross receipts from mobile telecommunications services that are subject to the tax imposed by chapter 239;

            (iii)  Gross receipts from mobile telecommunications services taxed under section 237-13.8; and

             (iv)  Gross receipts of a home service provider acting as a serving carrier providing mobile telecommunications services to another home service provider's customer.

              For the purposes of this paragraph, "charges for mobile telecommunications services", "customer", "home service provider", "mobile telecommunications services", "place of primary use", and "serving carrier" have the same meaning as in section 239-22.

     (7)  Tax on insurance producers.  Upon every person engaged as a licensed producer pursuant to chapter 431, there is hereby levied and shall be assessed and collected a tax equal to 0.15 per cent of the commissions due to that activity.

     (8)  Tax on receipts of sugar benefit payments.  Upon the amounts received from the United States government by any producer of sugar (or the producer's legal representative or heirs), as defined under and by virtue of the Sugar Act of 1948, as amended, or other Acts of the Congress of the United States relating thereto, there is hereby levied a tax of one-half of one per cent of the gross amount received; provided that the tax levied hereunder on any amount so received and actually disbursed to another by a producer in the form of a benefit payment shall be paid by the person or persons to whom the amount is actually disbursed, and the producer actually making a benefit payment to another shall be entitled to claim on the producer's return a deduction from the gross amount taxable hereunder in the sum of the amount so disbursed.  The amounts taxed under this paragraph shall not be taxable under any other paragraph, subsection, or section of this chapter.

     (9)  Tax on other business.  Upon every person engaging or continuing within the State in any business, trade, activity, occupation, or calling not included in the preceding paragraphs or any other provisions of this chapter, there is likewise hereby levied and shall be assessed and collected, a tax equal to [four] five per cent of the gross income thereof.  In addition, the rate prescribed by this paragraph shall apply to a business taxable under one or more of the preceding paragraphs or other provisions of this chapter, as to any gross income thereof not taxed thereunder as gross income or gross proceeds of sales or by taxing an equivalent value of products, unless specifically exempted."

     SECTION 2.  Section 237-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§237-15  Technicians.  When technicians supply dentists or physicians with dentures, orthodontic devices, braces, and similar items [which] that have been prepared by the technician in accordance with specifications furnished by the dentist or physician, and [such] the items are to be used by the dentist or physician in the dentist's or physician's professional practice for a particular patient who is to pay the dentist or physician for the same as a part of the dentist's or physician's professional services, the technician shall be taxed as though the technician were a manufacturer selling a product to a licensed retailer, rather than at the rate of [four] five per cent [which] that is generally applied to professions and services."

     SECTION 3.  Section 237-16.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  This section relates to the leasing of real property by a lessor to a lessee.  There is hereby levied, and shall be assessed and collected annually, a privilege tax against persons engaging or continuing within the State in the business of leasing real property to another, equal to [four] five per cent of the gross proceeds or gross income received or derived from the leasing; provided that where real property is subleased by a lessee to a sublessee, the lessee, as provided in this section, shall be allowed a deduction from the amount of gross proceeds or gross income received from its sublease of the real property.  The deduction shall be in the amount allowed under this section.

     All deductions under this section and the name and general excise tax number of the lessee's lessor shall be reported on the general excise tax return.  Any deduction allowed under this section shall only be allowed with respect to leases and subleases in writing and relating to the same real property."

     SECTION 4.  Section 237-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:

     "(f)  Where tourism related services are furnished through arrangements made by a travel agency or tour packager and the gross income is divided between the provider of the services and the travel agency or tour packager, the tax imposed by this chapter shall apply to each [such] person with respect to [such] the person's respective portion of the proceeds, and no more.

     As used in this subsection, "tourism related services" means catamaran cruises, canoe rides, dinner cruises, lei greetings, transportation included in a tour package, sightseeing tours not subject to chapter 239, admissions to luaus, dinner shows, extravaganzas, cultural and educational facilities, and other services rendered directly to the customer or tourist, but only if the providers of the services other than air transportation are subject to a [four] five per cent tax under this chapter or chapter 239."

     SECTION 5.  Section 237-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§237-31  Remittances.  (a)  All remittances of taxes imposed by this chapter shall be made by money, bank draft, check, cashier's check, money order, or certificate of deposit to the office of the department of taxation to which the return was transmitted.

     (b)  The department shall issue its receipts therefor to the taxpayer and shall pay the moneys into the state treasury as a state realization, to be kept and accounted for as provided by law; provided that:

     (1)  A sum, not to exceed $5,000,000, from all general excise tax revenues realized by the State shall be deposited in the state treasury in each fiscal year to the credit of the compound interest bond reserve fund;

     (2)  A sum from all general excise tax revenues realized by the State that is equal to one-half of the total amount of funds appropriated or transferred out of the hurricane reserve trust fund under sections 4 and 5 of Act 62, Session Laws of Hawaii 2011, shall be deposited into the hurricane reserve trust fund in fiscal year 2013-2014 and in fiscal year 2014-2015; provided that the deposit required in each fiscal year shall be made by October 1 of that fiscal year; and

  [[](3)[]]    Commencing with fiscal year 2018-2019, a sum from all general excise tax revenues realized by the State that represents the difference between the state public employer's annual required contribution for the separate trust fund established under section 87A-42 and the amount of the state public employer's contributions into that trust fund shall be deposited to the credit of the State's annual required contribution into that trust fund in each fiscal year, as provided in section 87A-42.

     (c)  Notwithstanding subsection (b), beginning on July 1, 2014, the additional revenues generated and collected from the increase in general excise tax rates imposed by sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Act     , Session Laws of Hawaii 2014, shall be deposited into the acquisition and management of agricultural lands special fund established under section 163D-   ."

PART II

     SECTION 6.  Chapter 163D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part II to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§163D-     Acquisition and management of agricultural lands special fund.  (a)  There is established in the state treasury the acquisition and management of agricultural lands special fund, into which shall be deposited general excise tax revenues as provided by section 237-31(c).

     (b)  The corporation may expend moneys from the fund for the following purposes:

     (1)  Acquisition of agricultural lands pursuant to section 163D-31; or

     (2)  Payment for financial management services for agricultural lands, as provided under section 163D-31(d).

     (c)  The corporation shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91 for the purposes of this section."

     SECTION 7.  Section 163D-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§163D-31[]]  Acquisitions of important agricultural lands authorized by the legislature.  (a)  The legislature may authorize the corporation to acquire agricultural lands for the protection of agricultural lands, public land banking, or the promotion of farm ownership and diversified agriculture.

     (b)  The acquisition shall be authorized by a bill enacted into law and shall contain:

     (1)  A statement of the value of the interest in land as a resource to the State;

     (2)  A description of the specific parcel of land or agricultural easement proposed to be acquired;

     (3)  The name of the owner of the property; and

     (4)  The estimated costs of acquiring the interest in the land.

     (c)  The landowner shall receive payment for the interest in the land in a lump sum, through an installment purchase agreement as determined pursuant to section 163D-32, or from revenues derived from the issuance of revenue bonds pursuant to section 163D-9.

     (d)  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the corporation may contract with a financial institution chartered under chapter 412 or a federal financial institution, as defined under section 412:1-109, that transacts business in this State to provide financial management services for agricultural lands acquired under this section.  For the purposes of this subsection, "financial management services" includes the collection of lease rent and any other moneys owed to the corporation related to the lease of agricultural land under the corporation's control."

     SECTION 8.  Section 163D-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  The corporation may make payments from moneys [appropriated]:

     (1)  Appropriated by the legislature[.]; or

     (2)  From the acquisition and management of agricultural lands special fund."

PART III

     SECTION 9.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 10.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2014; provided that part I shall be repealed on June 30, 2016, and sections 237-13, 237-15, 237-16.5(a), and 237-18(f), Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which they read on the day before the effective date of this Act.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

General Excise Tax; Increase; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Acquisition and Management of Agricultural Lands

 

Description:

Increases the general excise tax by 1% for a 2-year period to provide a dedicated funding source for the acquisition and management of agricultural lands.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.