Florida Administrative Code › 12 - DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE › 12A - Sales and Use Tax › Chapter 12A-19 - COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TAX › Section 12A-19.072 - Certification of Service Address Databases

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) A communications services dealer that
				develops and maintains its own database for assigning service addresses to
				local taxing jurisdictions or a third-party vendor that provides a database for
				sale to communications services dealers or uses such a database in providing
				billing or other services to communications services dealers may apply to the
				Department for certification of the database. A database will be certified if
				it assigns street addresses, address ranges, post office boxes, and post office
				box ranges to the proper local taxing jurisdictions with an overall accuracy
				rate of 95 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence, based on a
				statistically reliable sample. Accuracy must be measured based on the entire
				geographic area within the state of Florida covered by the database for which
				certification is sought.
(2)
(a) Application for certification must be
				made to the Department on Form DR-700012, Application for Certification of
				Communications Services Database (incorporated by reference in Rule
				12A-19.100, F.A.C.), and in
				accordance with the instructions on the form. All applicable portions of the
				application must be completed. Communications services dealers and vendors that
				sell databases of addresses to dealers must submit the address databases for
				which certification is sought with their applications.
(b) The Department will notify the applicant
				of any errors or omissions in the application and of all additional information
				or documentation required within 90 days of receipt of the application. The
				Department will review the application and contact the individual designated in
				the application concerning any additional information required and the format
				in which such information must be submitted. The applicant shall provide access
				to all records, facilities, and processes reasonably required to review,
				inspect, or test the database within 10 working days of the Department's
				request for such access.
(c)
1. The Department will test the applicant's
				database by comparing the assignments of service addresses to the assignments
				of service addresses in the Address/Jurisdiction Database, which is the
				Department's on-line database described in Rule
				12A-19.071, F.A.C. The
				Department will notify the applicant of all service addresses that do not match
				the Address/Jurisdiction Database, regardless of whether the applicant's
				database meets the accuracy criterion for certification.
2. In the event that an applicant vendor has
				a software program that assigns addresses to jurisdictions rather than a
				database of addresses, the vendor should include a copy of the "user manual" or
				equivalent directions that will be provided to purchasers of the software with
				its application for certification. Procedures for testing the software and its
				assignment of addresses or address ranges to local taxing jurisdictions will be
				determined on a case-by-case basis. The procedures must be sufficient to ensure
				that the software meets an overall accuracy rate of 95 percent with a 95
				percent level of confidence.
(d) Within 180 days of receipt of a completed
				application, the Department will issue a written determination.
1. If the notice grants certification, it
				will specify the expiration date, which will be three years from the date of
				the notice.
2. If the notice denies
				certification, it must specify the grounds, inform the applicant of any
				available remedy, and set forth procedures for protesting the denial. If the
				applicant cures the defects that formed the basis for denial and upon retesting
				the database meets the requirements for certification, the Department will
				issue a notice certifying the database. Under such circumstances, the
				Department will issue a notice certifying the database, even in cases where the
				applicant has filed a petition and a proceeding is pending under Chapter 120,
				F.S. If the defects forming the basis of the denial are based on a sample,
				correction of the errors identified in the sample does not constitute
				correction of the database.