Source: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2006/bills/senate/H-843.HTM
Timestamp: 2018-06-23 18:03:12
Document Index: 641891509

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 7771', '§ 7771', '§ 5825', '§ 3701', '§ 2178', '§ 5811', '§ 5930', '§ 138', '§ 3707', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§3709', '§3709', '§9775', '§ 9701', '§ 7501', '§ 9701', '§ 5832', '§ 5811', '§ 5831', '§ 5888', '§ 5885', '§ 5888', '§ 5888', '§3752', '§ 5930', '§ 9701', '§ 5930', '§ 312', '§ 5930', '§ 7702', '§ 7771', '§ 7811', '§ 7771', '§ 7771', '§ 3802']

An act relating to miscellaneous tax policy amendments.
* * * Preserves Changes to Cigarette Tax in Health Bill if it is Enacted * * *
Sec. 3a. PRIORITY OF ENACTMENTS
Sec. 3 of this act (amending 32 V.S.A. § 7771 relating to the cigarette tax) shall be subject to and further amended by any amendments to § 7771 in H. 861 which are enacted in 2006, except that the repeal of the sentence at the end of subsection (a)(3) of Sec. 3 of this act, which reads “All taxes upon cigarettes under this chapter are declared to be a direct tax upon the consumer at retail and shall conclusively be presumed to be precollected for the purpose of convenience and facility only.” shall remain repealed.
* * * Leaves Sales Tax on Downloaded Software to
Begin When SST Begins * * *
Second: By striking out Sec. 4 (accelerating the effective date for sales taxation of prewritten computer software in electronic form)
Third: In Sec. 6 (effective date for Sec. 4) by striking out subsection (4)
* * * Increase of Credit for Higher Ed Investment Plan Contributions * * *
Fourth: By adding a new section to be numbered Sec. 8 to read as follows:
Sec. 8. 32 V.S.A. § 5825A is amended to read:
* * * State College Property/VTC “Incubator” * * *
Fifth: By adding two new sections to be numbered Secs. 9 and 10 to read as follows:
Sec. 9. 32 V.S.A. § 3701(1)(A) is amended to read:
Sec. 10. 16 V.S.A. § 2178 is amended to read:
* * * Changing Angel Investment Incentive to a Credit * * *
Sixth: By adding three new sections to be numbered Secs. 11, 12 and 13 to read as follows:
Sec. 11. 32 V.S.A. § 5811(21) is amended to read:
Sec. 12. 32 V.S.A. § 5930v is amended to read:
Sec. 13. INVESTMENTS DEFERRED UNDER PRIOR LAW
* * * Local Option Taxes for All Towns, No Sunset; Highway Funds * * *
Seventh: By adding three new sections to be numbered Secs. 14, 15 and 16 to read as follows
Sec. 14. 24 V.S.A. § 138(a) is amended to read:
(a) Local option taxes are authorized under this section for the purpose of affording municipalities an alternative method of raising municipal revenues . to facilitate the transition and reduce the dislocations in those municipalities that may be caused by reforms to the method of financing public education under the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1997. Accordingly:
(2) a municipality opting to impose a local option tax may do so prior to July 1, 1998 to be effective beginning January 1, 1999, and anytime after December 1, 1998 a A local option tax adopted under this section shall be effective beginning on the next tax quarter following 30 days' notice to the department of taxes of the imposition; and all authority to opt to impose a local option tax under this section shall terminate September 1, 2007, and all authority to impose a local option tax shall terminate on December 31, 2008; and
Sec. 15. 32 V.S.A. § 3707a is added to read:
(a) There is hereby established a PILOT special fund, consisting of local option tax revenue paid to the Treasurer pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 138. This fund shall be managed by the commissioner of taxes pursuant to subchapter 5 of chapter 7 of this title. Notwithstanding section 588(3) of this title, all interest earned on the fund shall be retained in the fund for use in meeting future obligations. The fund shall be used exclusively for state payments in lieu of taxes required under this subchapter 4. The commissioner of finance and management may draw warrants for disbursement from this fund in anticipation of receipts.
(b) If the PILOT special fund in insufficient to pay the full amount of all payments in lieu of taxes required under this subchapter 4, then payments, after application of the cap in subsection 3703(c) of this subchapter, shall be reduced proportionately.
Sec. 16. 24 V.S.A. § 138(d) is amended to read:
(d) Of the taxes reported under this section, 80 percent shall be paid to the municipality in which they were reported for calendar year 1999, 70 percent shall be paid to the municipality in which they were reported for calendar years thereafter. Such revenues may be expended by the municipality for municipal services only and not for educational expenditures. The remaining amount of the taxes reported shall be remitted monthly to the state treasurer for deposit in the PILOT special fund established in Sec. 89 of No. 60 of the Acts of 1997. Amounts to be paid to a municipality under this section shall be reduced by five percent to reflect the difference between the amounts reported and collected. Taxes due to a municipality under this section, less the costs of administration and collection, shall be paid on a quarterly basis. Taxes collected under this section shall be paid as follows:
(i) 70 percent of the taxes shall be paid on a quarterly basis to the municipality in which they were collected, after reduction for the costs of administration and collection. Revenues received by a municipality may be expended for municipal services only, and not for educational expenditures.
(ii) The first $2.5 million of any remaining revenue shall be deposited into the PILOT special fund established by 32 V.S.A. §3709.
(iii) Any then remaining revenue shall be deposited fifty percent into the PILOT special fund established by 32 V.S.A. §3709, and fifty percent into the Town Highway Fund for town highway state aid.
* * * Less Frequent Reporting for Voluntary SST Collections * * *
Eighth: By striking out Sec. 5 in its entirety and inserting a new Sec. 5 to read as follows:
Sec. 5. 32 V.S.A. § §9775(a) and (f) are amended to read:
* * * Technical: Repeal of Unused Credit * * *
Ninth: By adding a new section to be numbered Sec. 17 to read as follows:
* * * Technical: Updated Reference to “Telecom Provider” * * *
Tenth: By adding a new section to be numbered Sec. 18 to read as follows:
Sec. 18. 32 V.S.A. § 9701(9)(H) is amended to read:
(H) A person who provides telecommunications service provider as defined in 30 V.S.A. § 7501 32 V.S.A. § 9701(19), except that "vendor" shall not include a person whose activities in this state are limited to the performance of any activities which, without more, would not constitute nexus for sales tax collection purposes, plus any or all of the following necessary to create or maintain a worldwide web page or internet site for the person:
* * * Technical: Arithmetic Error in 2006 Corp. Tax Table * * *
Eleventh: By adding a new section to be Sec. 19 to read as follows:
Sec. 19. 32 V.S.A. § 5832(1) is amended to read:
$ 10,001.00-25,000.00 $600.00 plus 7.0% of the excess
25,001.00-250,000.00 $1,650.00 plus 8.75% of the excess over $25,000.00
250,001.00 and over $19,688.00 $21,338.00 plus 8.90%
of the excess over $250,000.00
* * * Net Operating Loss Simplification * * *
Twelfth: By adding four new sections to be numbered Secs. 20, 21, 22 and 23 to read as follows:
Sec. 20. 32 V.S.A. § 5811(25) is added to read:
Sec. 21. 32 V.S.A. § 5831 is amended to read:
Sec. 22. 32 V.S.A. § 5888(4)(B) is amended to read:
(B) The amount of any Vermont net operating loss, or net operating loss carryback or carryforward, which is available to a taxpayer under the laws of the United States, shall be available to a taxpayer as a carryforward in the ten years following the loss year in the determination of his Vermont tax, provided, however, that the amount of any refund due to a net operating loss carryback shall not exceed $5,000.00 for any taxable year.
Sec. 23. TRANSITION
The transition rules for implementation of Secs. 20, 21 and 22 of this act shall be:
(a) For losses occurring in taxable year 2007, the amount of net operating loss carryforward available under 32 V.S.A. § 5885(4)(B) shall be the same proportion of the Vermont net operating loss as the proportion of the federal net operating loss that was carried forward in determining federal taxable income increased by ten percent of remaining Vermont net operating loss.
(b) For losses occurring in taxable year 2008, the amount of net operating loss carryforward available under 32 V.S.A. § 5888(4)(B) shall be the same proportion of the Vermont net operating loss as the proportion of the federal net operating loss that was carried forward in determining the federal taxable income increased by thirty percent of remaining Vermont net operating loss.
(c) For losses occurring in taxable year 2009, the amount of Vermont net operating loss carryforward available under 32 V.S.A. § 5888(4)(B) shall be the same proportion of the Vermont net operating loss as the proportion of the federal net operating loss that was carried forward in determining the federal taxable income increased by forty percent of the remaining Vermont net operating loss.
(d) For losses occurring in taxable years 2009 and after, the full amount of the Vermont net operating loss may be carried forward.
* * * Study on How to Tax Trailer Coaches * * *
Thirteenth: By adding a new section to be numbered Sec. 24 to read as follows:
Sec. 24. PROPERTY TAXATION OF TRAILER COACHES
The legislative council, in consultation with the Division of Property Taxation and Review, the Vermont Association of Listers and Assessors, and the Vermont Campground Association, Inc., shall draft a proposal to amend the property tax laws to allow taxation or tax-exemption of trailer coaches in a fair and equitable manner, which can be applied uniformly across the state. The legislative council shall present its draft to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance by January 15, 2007.
Fourteenth: By adding a new Sec. 24a to read as follows:
Sec. 24a. 32 V.S.A. §3752(14) is amended to read:
(14) "Farm buildings" means all farm buildings and other farm improvements which are actively used by a farmer as part of a farming operation, are owned by a farmer or leased to a farmer under a written lease for a term of three years or more, and are situated on land that is enrolled in a use value appraisal program or on a house site adjoining enrolled land; but "farm buildings" shall not include any dwelling other than a dwelling in use during the preceding tax year exclusively to house one or more farm employees, as defined in section 4469 of Title 9, and their families, as a nonmonetary benefit of the farm employment. With respect to a dwelling used to house farm employees, the dwelling shall be on a parcel of no more than two acres situated on enrolled land or surrounded by enrolled land, or surrounded by enrolled land interrupted only by road frontage, as long as the ownership of the dwelling and the enrolled land is in the same family.
* * * Film Credit * * *
Fifteenth: By adding three new sections to be numbered Secs. 25, 26 and 27 to read as follows:
Sec. 25. 32 V.S.A. § 5930z is added to read:
(b) Motion picture tax credit. An eligible production company shall be allowed a refundable credit against the income tax imposed under this chapter in the amount of 25 percent of the eligible expenses not to exceed $7,000,000.00 incurred within the state in the taxable year and related to a state-certified production with a total production budget of at least $1,000,000.00, as certified by the secretary.
Sec. 26. 32 V.S.A. § 9701(45) is added to read:
(45) Manufacturing: shall not include motion picture or film production.
Sec. 25 of this act (motion picture tax credit) shall take effect upon passage and shall apply to any production commenced on or after July 1, 2006, that may be certified by the Vermont film commission; and Sec. 26 of this act (manufacturing does not include film production) shall take effect upon passage. No payment shall be made by the state for any refundable motion picture tax credit awarded under Section 25 of this act before July 1, 2007.
* * * Affordable Housing Tax Credit and Study * * *
Sixteenth: By adding four new sections to be numbered Secs. 28, 29, 30 and 31 to read as follows:
Sec. 28. 32 V.S.A. § 5930u(c), (d), and (g) are amended to read:
Sec. 29. ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON NEW AFFORDABLE
Sec. 30. 32 V.S.A. § 312 is amended to read:
Sec. 31. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION RULE
Secs. 28, 29 and 30 this act ( affordable housing tax credits) shall take effect upon passage except that the Sec. 28 increase in amount available for affordable housing investment tax credits shall take effect July 1, 2006, and the total amount of first-year tax credits which may be allocated in fiscal year 2007 under 32 V.S.A. § 5930u(g) shall be limited to $300,000.00, and the total amount of first-year tax credits which may be allocated in fiscal years 2008 and after shall be $400,000.00.
* * * Smokeless Tobacco Amendments * * *
Seventeenth: By adding four new sections to be numbered Secs. 32, 33, 34 and 35 to read as follows:
Sec. 32. 32 V.S.A. § 7702 is amended to read:
(1) "Cigarette" shall mean the common article of commerce known by this name consisting of a small cylindrical roll composed in whole or in part of finely-cut tobacco, wrapped in paper or in any substance other than tobacco means:
(4) "Distributor" means any person who imports, or causes to be imported, into this state any tobacco product for sale or who manufactures any tobacco product in this state, and any person within or without the state who is authorized by the commissioner to make returns and pay the tax on tobacco products sold, shipped or delivered by him to any person in the state.
(6)(7) "Manufacturer" means a person who manufactures and sells tobacco products.
(7)(8) "Person" shall mean any individual, firm, fiduciary, partnership, corporation, trust or association, however formed.
(8)(9) "Place of business" means any place where tobacco products are sold or where tobacco products are manufactured, stored, or kept for the purpose of sale or consumption, including any vessel, vehicle, airplane, train, or vending machine.
(9)(10) "Retail dealer" shall mean a person who sells or furnishes cigarettes or tobacco products, or both, in small quantities to consumers only, but not for the purpose of resale.
(10)(12) "Sale" or "sell" means any transfer, exchange or barter in any manner or by any means whatever, of any cigarettes or tobacco products.
(11)(14) "Stamp" shall mean any impression, stamp, label or print manufactured, printed or made as prescribed by the commissioner.
(12)(15) "Tobacco products" means cigars; cheroots; stogies; periques; granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff, snuff flour; cavendish; plug and twist tobacco; fine-cut and other chewing tobaccos; shorts; refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings and sweeping of tobacco, and other kinds and forms of tobacco, prepared in such manner as to be suitable for chewing or smoking in a pipe or otherwise, or both for chewing and smoking; but shall not include cigarettes as defined in this section.
(13)(16) "Wholesale dealer" shall mean a person who sells or furnishes cigarettes or tobacco products, or both, to wholesale or retail dealers for the purpose of resale, but not by the small quantity or parcel to consumers thereof.
(14)(17) "Wholesale dealer's license" shall mean the license granted under the provisions of this chapter to a wholesale dealer for a wholesale outlet.
(15)(18) "Wholesale outlet" shall mean any premises where cigarettes or tobacco products, or both, are sold, transferred, displayed or held for sale by a wholesale dealer.
(16)(19) "Wholesale price" means the price at which a distributor sells or furnishes tobacco products to any retail dealer.
Sec. 33. 32 V.S.A. § 7771 is amended to read:
(a) A tax is imposed on all cigarettes, little cigars, and roll your own tobacco held in this state by any person for sale or by any person in possession of more than 10,000 cigarettes, little cigars, and roll your own tobacco, unless such cigarettes products shall be:
(b) Such tax shall be at the rate of 59.5 mills for each cigarette and the payment thereof to or little cigar and for each nine-hundredths of an ounce of roll-your-own tobacco. Payment of the tax on cigarettes shall be evidenced by the affixing of stamps to the packages containing the cigarettes as hereinafter provided. Where practicable, the commissioner may also require that stamps be affixed to packages containing little cigars or roll-your-own tobacco. Any cigarette, little cigar or roll-your-own tobacco, on which the tax imposed by this chapter has been paid, such payment being evidenced by the affixing of such stamp or such evidence as the commissioner may require, shall not be subject to a further tax under this chapter. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to impose a tax on any transaction the taxation of which by this state is prohibited by the constitution of the United States. The amount of taxes advanced and paid by a licensed wholesale dealer or a retail dealer as herein provided shall be added to and collected as part of the retail sale price on the cigarettes, little cigars or roll-your-own tobacco. All taxes upon cigarettes under this chapter are declared to be a direct tax upon the consumer at retail and shall conclusively be presumed to be precollected for the purpose of convenience and facility only.
Sec. 34. 32 V.S.A. § 7811 is amended to read:
There is hereby imposed and shall be paid a tax on all tobacco products except roll-your-own tobacco and little cigars taxed under section 7771 of this title possessed in the state of Vermont by any person for sale on and after July 1, 1959 which were imported into the state or manufactured in the state after said date, except that no tax shall be imposed on tobacco products sold under such circumstances that this state is without power to impose such tax, or sold to the United States, or sold to or by a voluntary unincorporated organization of the armed forces of the United States operating a place for the sale of goods pursuant to regulations promulgated by the appropriate executive agency of the United States. Such tax on tobacco products shall be at the rate of 41 percent of the wholesale price for all tobacco products except snuff which shall be taxed at the rate of $1.08 per ounce, or fractional part thereof, and is intended to be imposed only once upon any tobacco product. Provided, however, that upon payment of the tax within ten days, the distributor or dealer may deduct from the tax two percent of the tax due. It shall be presumed that all tobacco products within the state are subject to tax until the contrary is established and the burden of proof that any tobacco products are not taxable hereunder shall be upon the person in possession thereof.
Sec. 35. CIGARETTE AND TOBACCO PRODUCTS; EFFECTIVE DATE;
(a) Secs. 32 through 34 (cigarette and tobacco products taxation) of this act and this section 35 shall take effect July 1, 2006; and the amendments in these sections 32 through 34 shall be subject to and further amended by any amendments to § 7771 in Sec. 3 of this act and any amendment to § 7771 in H. 861 which are enacted in 2006, except that the repeal of the sentence at the end of subsection (b)(3) of Sec. 38 of this act, which reads “All taxes upon cigarettes under this chapter are declared to be a direct tax upon the consumer at retail and shall conclusively be presumed to be precollected for the purpose of convenience and facility only.” shall remain repealed.
Eighteenth: By adding a new section to be numbered Sec. 35a to read as follows:
Sec. 35a. 32 V.S.A. § 3802 (11) is amended to read:
(11)(A) Real and personal property to the extent of $10,000.00 $20,000.00 of appraisal value, except any part used for business or rental, occupied as the established residence of and owned in fee simple by a veteran of any war or a veteran who has received an American Expeditionary Medal, his or her spouse, widow, widower or child, or jointly by any combination of them, if one or more of them are receiving disability compensation for at least 50 percent disability, death compensation, dependence and indemnity compensation, or pension for disability paid through any military department or the veterans administration if, before May 1 of each year, there is filed with the listers:
An unremarried widow or widower of a previously qualified veteran shall be entitled to the exemption provided in this subdivision whether or not he or she is receiving government compensation or pension. By majority vote of those present and voting at an annual or special meeting warned for the purpose, a town may increase the veterans' exemption under this subsection to up to $20,000.00 $30,000.00 of appraisal value. Any increase in exemption shall take effect for the taxable year in which it was voted, and shall remain in effect for future taxable years until amended or repealed by a similar vote.
* * * Effective Date Additions * * *
Nineteenth: By renumbering Sec. 6 as Sec. 36, and adding new subsections to that section as follows:
(5) Sec. 7 (disallowance of domestic production activity deduction in excess of 3 percent of qualified income) shall apply to taxable years 2006 and after.
(6) Sec. 8 of this act (expanding the Higher Education Investment Plan tax credit) shall apply to contributions made in taxable years 2007 and after.
(7) Sec. 9 of this act (payments in lieu of taxes for tax-exempt State College buildings) shall take effect July 1, 2006; and Sec. 10 of this act (limitation on State College property tax exemption to property used for educational and not commercial purposes) shall apply to grand lists of April 1, 2011 and after.
(8) Secs. 11 and 12 of this act (angel venture capital credit) shall apply to taxable years 2006 and after.
(9) Sec. 19 of this act (correcting arithmetic error in tax table) shall apply to taxable year 2006 only.