Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 57 - PLANNING, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (§§ 57-NEW-001 — 57-123-55) › Chapter 114 - MISSISSIPPI FLEXIBLE TAX INCENTIVE ACT (§§ 57-114-1 — 57-114-21) › Section 57-114-13 - Taxpayer annual performance reporting to, and reviews by, Mississippi Development Authority; subsequent adjustments by Mississippi Development Authority to mFlex tax incentive award; deadline for mFlex tax incentive utilization

(1)
Unless its mFlex agreement prescribes a longer reporting period or additional reporting requirements, each qualified business or industry shall file an annual report with the authority for each qualified economic development project which has been certified, and for which any mFlex tax incentive has been awarded, by the authority in accordance with this chapter, for the longer of the following periods:
(a)
until the reporting year during which all or any remaining portion of the mFlex tax incentive amount awarded to such qualified business or industry has been applied to offset state taxes, or
(b)
until the seventh reporting year, provided that an annual report shall in either instance be due in the final reporting year prescribed hereby or by the mFlex agreement. Each annual report shall be due to the authority no later than the last business day of the month following the quarter during which the annual anniversary of its project certification date occurred. Each annual report shall include the information set forth in this section, together with any other information required to be provided by the qualified business or industry pursuant to its mFlex agreement, for the immediately preceding twelve-month period ending on the last day of the month during which the annual anniversary of its project certification date occurred.
(2)
Each annual report submitted to the authority by a qualified business or industry shall, at a minimum, contain the following information:
(a)
The total qualified investment made between the project certification date through the end of the reporting year, including a breakout of actual expenditures made by the qualified business or industry for manufacturing machinery, nonmanufacturing equipment and component building materials to establish and equip the qualified economic development project;
(b)
The incremental qualified investment made during the reporting year, including a breakout of actual expenditures made by the qualified business or industry for manufacturing machinery, nonmanufacturing equipment and component building materials to establish and equip the qualified economic development project;
(c)
If applicable, the total number of base full-time jobs;
(d)
The total number of people employed in new full-time jobs as of the last day the year preceding the reporting year;
(e)
The total number of people employed in new full-time jobs as of the last day the year of the reporting year;
(f)
The average employer wage for the reporting year;
(g)
The percentage and number, as of the last day of the reporting year, of new full-time employees who are eligible for and offered a health insurance coverage funded in whole or at least fifty percent (50%) by the qualified business or industry (or by a leasing company with respect to leased employees);
(h)
A description of employee benefits, including but not limited to, health, dental and/or vision insurance, retirement savings account, etc. made available to employees, as well as a description of any employees to whom the benefits are not made available (e.g., part-time employees);
(i)
The total amount of the mFlex tax incentive awarded thereto, which the qualified business or industry has already applied and taken as a credit to offset state taxes through the end of the reporting period;
(j)
A list of all affiliates of the qualified business or industry, including the Federal Employer Identification Number for each affiliate, for which any state tax liability thereof has been or is expected to be offset by all or some portion of the mFlex tax incentives awarded to the qualified business or industry, which list shall further identify (i) any affiliate of the qualified business or industry that was not disclosed as such on its application or annual report submitted for the prior reporting period, whichever was more recent, but which has either become an affiliate of the qualified business or industry as of the date the current annual report or which the qualified business or industry desires to utilize all or a portion of its mFlex tax incentive as a credit to offset the affiliate's state tax liability following the date of the current annual report; (ii) any change in the name of any previously disclosed affiliate since the date the qualified business or industry filed its application or annual report for the prior reporting period, whichever was more recent; (iii) any prior affiliate of the qualified business or industry disclosed as such on its application or annual report for the prior reporting period, whichever was more recent, and which is no longer an affiliate of the qualified business or industry as of the date the current annual report; and (iv) any affiliate of the qualified business or industry disclosed as such on its application or annual report for the prior reporting period, whichever was more recent, and which the qualified business or industry no longer desires that the affiliate utilize all or a portion of its mFlex tax incentive as a credit to offset the affiliate's state tax liability following the date of the current annual report.
(3)
The authority shall prescribe a form or forms for the annual report.
(4)
Notwithstanding the obligation of a qualified business or industry to file an annual report with the authority for each qualified economic development project which has been certified, and for which any mFlex tax incentive has been awarded, the authority is authorized to request from the qualified business or industry at any other time any of the information set forth herein that must be included in an annual report for purposes of determining whether a qualified business or industry has met any of the project performance measures set forth in its mFlex agreement on or before the respective deadlines imposed with respect thereto. Upon any such written request by the authority, the qualified business or industry shall, within thirty (30) days after receipt of the request, provide to the authority a certified copy of the information requested.
(5)
If a qualified business or industry fails to either file an annual report with the authority on or before the deadline mandated by subsection (1) of this section, or provide any information requested by the authority pursuant to subsection (4) of this section within the time period mandated by such subsection, the authority shall provide written notice to the qualified business or industry of the failure to report, and the qualified business or industry shall have thirty (30) additional days to cure the reporting failure following its receipt of the notice. If the qualified business or industry thereafter fails to file its annual report with the authority, or provide such information requested by the authority within the thirty-day-cure period, the authority is authorized to suspend or revoke, at the discretion thereof, all or a portion of the amount of the mFlex tax incentive previously awarded to the qualified business or industry for its qualified economic development project.
(6)
If a qualified business or industry either fails to achieve or exceeds any project performance measure set forth in its mFlex agreement within or for any time period required by such agreement, the authority shall, following its (a) review of any annual report filed by the qualified business or industry or of any certified information provided by the qualified business or industry pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, and (b) verification based upon such information that the qualified business or industry either failed to achieve or exceeded any of the project performance measures set forth in its mFlex agreement within or for any time period required by such agreement, adjust the mFlex tax incentive awarded thereto for its qualified economic development project such that the award is no longer based upon any one or more of the performance measures set forth in its mFlex agreement, but is instead based upon one or more of the following, as applicable, as of the end of the most recent reporting year for which the annual report was filed:
(a)
the actual expenditures made by the qualified business or industry for purposes of the calculation prescribed by Section
57-114-9(a), (b) and (c)
; and (b)(i) the actual number of new full-time jobs created by the qualified business or industry, together with (ii) the actual average employer wage associated therewith, for purposes of the calculations prescribed by Section
57-114-9(d) and (e)
.
(7)
A qualified business or industry and the authority may, at any time, amend or restate an mFlex agreement in order to modify the performance measures of the qualified business or industry with respect to its qualified economic development project, and in connection with such amendment or amendment and restatement, the authority shall modify the amount of the mFlex tax incentive awarded for the qualified economic development project to comport with the modified performance measures; provided that the modified award amount shall thereafter be subject to the adjustment requirements of subsection (6) of this section.
(8)
If the authority adjusts any mFlex tax incentive award pursuant to subsection (6) or subsection (7) of this section, the authority shall issue an amended certification of the corresponding qualified economic development project, which shall specify the amount of mFlex tax incentive award adjustment. The authority shall forward the amended certification, along with any other necessary information, to the Department of Revenue so that the mFlex tax incentive award adjustment for the qualified business or industry can be recorded by the Department of Revenue and used to verify each state tax credit subsequently applied by the qualified business or industry.
(9)
If at any time the authority reduces the mFlex tax incentive award granted for the qualified economic development project to an amount less than the total amount of credits already applied and taken by the qualified business or industry, or by one or more affiliates thereof eligible to utilize such credit, to offset state taxes thereof, the Department of Revenue shall charge the qualified business or industry, or such affiliate or affiliates, with an assessment for the amount of state taxes for which no mFlex tax incentive is available, following such reduction by the authority, for application as a tax credit, beginning with those state taxes against which the qualified business or industry most recently applied the credit, and such state tax assessment shall be immediately due and payable.
(10)
Any portion of an mFlex tax incentive awarded to the qualified business or industry by the authority for its qualified economic development project pursuant to this chapter that has not been applied, on or before the tenth annual anniversary of the project certificate date, as a credit by such qualified business or industry, or by one or more affiliates thereof eligible to utilize such credit, to offset state taxes otherwise payable, shall expire.
(11)
Within thirty (30) days following the end of each calendar quarter, the authority shall provide to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a copy of each amendment to any certification made, together with a copy of each amendment to any mFlex agreement approved and executed, during the immediately preceding calendar quarter.
Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 337, SB 2830,§ 2, eff. 4/15/2024.
Added by Laws, 2022, ch. 462, SB 2159,§ 7, eff. 7/1/2022.