Bill Text: NJ S978 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Exempts certain aspects of out-of-State business operations from certain tax, fee, registration, and licensing requirements during performance of in-State declared disaster or emergency related work.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-27 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [S978 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S978-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Exempts certain aspects of out-of-State business operations from certain tax, fee, registration, and licensing requirements during performance of in-State declared disaster or emergency related work.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act exempting certain aspects of out-of-State business operations from certain tax, fee, registration, and licensing requirements during performance of in-State declared disaster or emergency related work, supplementing chapter 50 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Commissioner" means the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities;
"Declared disaster or emergency" means an event that qualifies as an in-State disaster or emergency event, authorizing the exemptions allowed pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), as evidenced by a Governor's State of Emergency Proclamation, a Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster or Emergency, or a Commissioner's designation of a disaster or emergency event for which a good faith response effort is required by a registered business having given the Commissioner notice of the effort required;
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury;
"Disaster or emergency related work" means repairing, renovating, installing, building, rendering services, or other business activities that relate to infrastructure damaged, impaired, or destroyed by the declared disaster or emergency;
"Disaster period" means a period beginning 10 days before the first day of the Governor's proclamation, President's declaration, or Commissioner's designation, whichever occurs first, and ending 60 days after the commencement of the declared disaster or emergency period;
"Infrastructure" means property and equipment owned or used by communication networks, electric generation, transmission, and distribution systems, gas distribution systems, water pipelines, and related support facilities that service multiple customers and residents including, but not limited to, real and personal property such as buildings, offices, lines, poles, pipes, structures, and equipment;
"Out-of-State business" means a business entity that does not have a physical presence in this State and does not otherwise engage in business activity or do business in this State, but whose services are requested by a registered business for purposes of performing disaster or emergency related work in this State; provided, however, that an out-of-State business does include a business entity that is affiliated with a registered business solely through common ownership and provided further that the out-of-State business does not have a physical presence in this State, does not engage in activities in this State, is not doing business in this State, and does not have registration or tax filing obligations in this State prior to the declared disaster or emergency;
"Out-of-State employee" means an employee who does not work in this State, except for disaster or emergency related work during the disaster period; and
"Registered business" means a business entity that is currently registered to do business in this State prior to the declared disaster or emergency.
2. a. (1) An out-of-State business that conducts operations within this State for purposes of performing disaster or emergency related work during a disaster period shall not be considered to have established a level of physical presence or engaged in business activities at a level that is sufficient to require that out-of-State business to register, file, and report and pay State or local taxes or fees or to require that out-of-State business, or its out-of-State employees, to be subject to any State or local licensing or registration requirements. This includes all State and local business licensing and registration requirements and all State and local taxes and fees including, but not limited to, unemployment insurance, sales and use tax, and any ad valorem tax on equipment used or consumed during the disaster period. For purposes of a State or local tax imposed on or measured by net or gross income or receipts, all activity of the out-of-State business conducted in this State, in accordance with P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be disregarded for any filing requirements for that tax, including the filing required for a unitary or combined group of which the out-of-State business may be a part.
(2) An out-of-State employee shall not be considered to have established residency or a physical presence or engaged in business activities in this State that are sufficient to require that out-of-State employee or that out-of-State employee's employer to report and pay State or local income taxes, to be subjected to State or local tax withholdings, or to report and pay any other State or local tax or fee during the disaster period. This includes any related employer withholding and reporting and payment obligations imposed by the State or a local government.
b. An out-of-State business or out-of-State employee shall be required to pay State and local transaction taxes and fees including, but not limited to, fuel taxes, sales and use taxes on receipts from sales of goods and services subject to sales and use taxes, hotel and motel occupancy taxes and fees, and motor vehicle rental taxes and fees that the out-of-State business or the out-of-State employee purchases for use or consumption in this State during the disaster period, unless those transactions are exempt, excluded, or not subject to State or local tax or fee during the disaster period.
c. An out-of-State business or out-of-State employee remaining in this State after a disaster period shall be subject to the State's normal standards for establishing physical presence or residency, engaging in business activity, and doing business in this State, and shall be responsible for any ensuing State or local tax liabilities or requirements of the business or an employee of the business.
d. P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be construed to relieve an entity or individual from a liability not explicitly exempted by P.L. , c. , including, but not limited to, damages associated with an act of negligence.
3. a. An out-of-State business that enters this State shall, upon request of the commissioner, provide a written statement to the commissioner indicating that the out-of-State business is doing business in this State for purposes of responding to the declared disaster or emergency, which written statement shall include the name of the business, the state of the business's domicile, the principal address of the business, the business's federal tax identification number, the date of the business's entry into this State, and the business's contact information.
b. A registered business shall, upon request of the commissioner, provide a written statement that includes the information required to be provided to the commissioner in accordance with subsection a. of this section for each out-of-State business affiliate that enters this State for purposes of responding to the declared disaster or emergency. The written notification provided to the commissioner shall include contact information for the registered business.
c. The written statement and any information requested by the commissioner from an out-of-State business or a registered business, on behalf of an affiliate, shall be a public or government record for purposes of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) and P.L.2001, c.404 (C.47:1A-5 et al.), and shall be open to the public for inspection, except as otherwise prohibited by law.
d. An out-of-State business or an out-of-State employee that maintains a physical presence in this State or engages in business activity in this State after a disaster period shall comply with all State and local business registration requirements and all licensing and filing requirements ensuing as a result of establishing the required business presence or residency in this State.
e. Notwithstanding the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the director and commissioner, respectively, may adopt immediately upon filing with the Office of Administrative Law such rules and regulations as the director and commissioner, respectively, determine to be necessary and appropriate to effectuate the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which rules and regulations shall be effective for a period not to exceed 360 days following the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and may thereafter be amended, adopted, or readopted by the director and commissioner, respectively, in accordance with the requirements of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill exempts certain aspects of out-of-State business operations from certain tax, fee, registration, and licensing requirements during performance of in-State declared disaster or emergency related work. The purpose of this bill is to remove tax, fee, registration and licensing requirements as impediments to the rapid deployment of out-of-State workers in response to a declared disaster or emergency so as to facilitate the expedient restoration of certain critical infrastructure and utilities.
The bill exempts out-of-State businesses that conduct operations within this State for purposes of performing declared disaster or emergency related work during a disaster period from complying with otherwise applicable State and local business registration, licensing, tax, and fees implicated as a result of that work. The bill's exemption extends to out-of-State employees' income tax reporting and related withholding obligations, as well as other State and local tax obligations.
The bill's exemption does not cover taxes imposed on transactions tied to in-State consumption. The bill specifies that out-of-State businesses and employees remain liable for fuel taxes, sales and use taxes, hotel and motel occupancy taxes and fees, and motor vehicle rental taxes and fees.
The bill's tax and business registration exemptions cease to apply 60 days after the declared disaster or emergency period starts. This means that if an out-of-State business or employee remains in-State after the 60-day-period then it is subject to the State's normal standards for taxes, fees, licensing, and registration.
Bill also restricts its exemptions to those explicitly provided and denotes that the bill may not be construed to relieve damages on account of negligence.
The bill allows the President of the Board of Public Utilities to request a written statement, from each out-of-State business that enters this State to provide disaster or emergency related work. The bill requires the statement to include notice that the out-of-State business is in-State for purposes of disaster or emergency related work, tax identification information, and contact information. The bill also allows the President of the Board of Public Utilities to request the same written statement from a business registered to do business in the State for each out-of-State business affiliate that enters this State for purposes of responding to the declared disaster or emergency.
The bill authorizes the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury and the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the bill, including emergency rulemaking authority for the first 360 days following the date of enactment.
The bill is scheduled to take effect on the date of enactment.
