SCS/HCS/HB's 116 & 316 - This act modifies laws regarding the collection of moneys owed to the state. The Director of the Department of Revenue is authorized to retain one percent of the amount of any local sales or use taxes collected by the department for the cost of collection. Beginning January 1, 2012, a statement of no tax due will be required for the issuance or renewal of all city and county occupation licenses as well as all state licenses required to conduct business. Such statement must be dated not more than sixty days from the date of application for license to be valid. The Director of Revenue may enter into an agreement with any state agency responsible for issuing any state license requiring the agency to provide the department with the name and tax identification number of each applicant for licensure within one month of the date the application is filed or at least one month prior to the anticipated license renewal. If an applicant is delinquent on any taxes, the department director must send a notice to the licensing agency and the applicant. An applicant's license must be suspended within 90 days after the notice unless: the taxes are paid; an arrangement has been made with the department to pay the taxes; the taxes were paid under protest; or the tax liability is found to be reasonably disputed. Anyone making a claim or having a judgment under the provisions of the State Legal Expense Fund must have a no-tax due statement from the department before any moneys can be expended from the fund for the settlement of any liability claim. The act allows an offset from the State Legal Expense Fund to satisfy any delinquent tax debt owed before payment is made to the person. Payments of $10,000 or greater from the fund for property damage claims are not required to have a no-tax due statement. The act provides taxpayers with amnesty from the assessment or payment of all penalties, additions to tax, and interest on delinquencies of unpaid taxes administered by the department which occurred on or prior to December 31, 2010. To receive amnesty under the act, a taxpayer must: apply for amnesty; file a tax return for each tax period for which amnesty is requested; pay the unpaid taxes in full from August 1, 2011, to October 31, 2011; and agree to comply with state tax laws for the next eight years from the date of the agreement. All new revenues resulting from the tax amnesty program will be deposited into the General Revenue Fund unless otherwise earmarked by the Missouri Constitution. State agencies may refer any debt owed to them to the department for the collection. The department and the referring state agency may exchange necessary information but must comply with federal and state laws regarding the confidentiality of information and records. The department may compromise any referred state debt and use all general remedies afforded creditors of Missouri, remedies specific to the referring state agency, and remedies afforded the state in general. Unless a judgment or lien was filed prior to the agency referring the debt to the department, the venue for any suit filed for the collection of state debt will be in Cole County. The department can employ staff, attorneys, the Attorney General, prosecuting attorneys, and private collection agencies to aid in the collection of debt. The department must add 10% to the amount of debt to be collected for the cost of collection which may be waived under certain conditions. The Director of Revenue may issue an administrative garnishment once he or she has filed a certificate of lien in the circuit court for delinquent income or sales or use taxes. Any person receiving this order must turn over any of the taxpayer's assets in his or her possession and any assets that are to become due the taxpayer including wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, workers' compensation benefits, disability benefits, pension or retirement payments, and interest less a fee to cover costs of no more than $6 per month. The taxpayer may obtain relief from the garnishment by paying the total amount owed. The act modifies provisions of the current state and local sales and use tax exemption for sales of over-the-counter and nonprescription drugs to individuals with disabilities by requiring such items be dispensed pursuant to a lawful prescription. Beginning January 1, 2012, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must provide the Director of Revenue, at least annually, the name and Social Security number of each certificate holder or applicant for a certificate of license to teach in Missouri. The Director of the Department of Revenue must at least annually a year verify that all income taxes have been paid and state income tax returns have been filed in the past three years and send a notice to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the certificate holder or applicant if a person has not paid his or her taxes or filed the tax returns. A certificate holder's license will be suspended within 90 days after the notice, and an applicant's license cannot be issued unless: the taxes are paid; an arrangement has been made with the Department of Revenue to pay the taxes; the taxes were paid under protest; or the tax liability is found to be reasonably disputed. The Director of the Department of Revenue and the Commissioner of the Office of Administration may enter into a reciprocal agreement with the federal government or any other state to offset vendor and contractor payments for any type of debt owed to the state. Currently, the department has a reciprocal agreement with the United States Treasury to offset income tax overpayments. This act also modifies provisions of Missouri tax credit programs in accordance with recommendations made by the Missouri Tax Credit Review Commission Report. BROWNFIELD REMEDIATION TAX CREDITS The act prohibits the authorization of more than twenty-five million dollars in Brownfield remediation tax credits annually. The credit amount for soft costs is reduced from one hundred percent to twenty-five percent. The act prohibits the stacking of other state incentives with Brownfield remediation tax credits unless the project will generate a positive fiscal benefit to the state. The act requires the recapture of Brownfield remediation tax credits to the extent the amount issued exceeds the state benefit. The act prohibits the authorization of more than five million dollars in Brownfield tax credits each fiscal year for projects that receive benefits under the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage program. (Section 447.708) NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION TAX CREDITS The "first-come, first-serve" requirement for tax credit issuance is repealed and replaced with a targeted neighborhood approach that would provide priority for projects which provide the highest impact. Neighborhood Associations will now be able to participate in the program. The annual cap on neighborhood preservation tax credits is reduced from sixteen million dollars to ten million dollars. Tax credits will be allocated among projects located within qualifying and eligible areas based upon demand. Residents which receive tax credits for owner-occupied residences will be subject to recapture if they fail to maintain residency in such home for a five-year period. (Sections 135.481 to 135.487) LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDITS Under current law, low-income housing tax credits are allowed over a ten-year period. Beginning July 1, 2011, this act reduces the period of time in which low-income housing tax credits are allowed to a five-year period and limits the total amount of low-income tax credits authorized annually to no more than eighty million dollars. The issuance of four percent low-income housing tax credits will be prohibited after June 30, 2011. The act also prohibits stacking low-income housing tax credits with historic preservation tax credits. Taxpayers will be capable of receiving tax credits once the first low-income unit is occupied by a qualified tenant. The carry-back provision for low-income housing tax credits is reduced from three years to two years. (Section 135.352) AFFORDABLE HOUSING ASSISTANCE Under current law, tax credits for contributions to non-profit organizations for the construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of affordable housing are capped at ten million per fiscal year. This act reduces the cap to eight million five hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year. The one million dollar fiscal year cap on tax credits for contributions to non-profit housing organizations to assist with their basic operating expenses is increased to two million five hundred thousand dollars. The credit amount for affordable housing tax credits is reduced from fifty-five percent of an eligible donation or contribution to forty percent of such donation or contribution. (Sections 32.105 to 32.120) HISTORIC PRESERVATION TAX CREDITS Under current law, the Department of Economic Development is prohibited from issuing more than one hundred forty million dollars in historic preservation tax credits in any fiscal year for projects which will receive more than two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in tax credits. Beginning fiscal year 2012, and each fiscal year thereafter, this act would prohibit the Department of Economic Development from issuing more than seventy-five million dollars in historic preservation tax credits increased by the amount of any recisions of approved applications for tax such credits. Projects which would receive less than two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars in tax credits will be subject to the seventy-five million dollar cap. The act prohibits the department from issuing more than fifty thousand dollars in historic preservation tax credits per project for non-income producing residential rehabilitation projects. Non-income producing residential rehabilitation projects involving a subject property with a purchase price in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars will be ineligible for tax credits. Applicants for projects that, as of June 30, 2011, have: received approval from the Department of Economic Development; incurred certain levels of expenses; been approved for 4% federal low-income housing tax credits; or received certification from the state historical preservation officer will not be subject to the new limitations on tax credit issuance, but will be subject to the current law limitations on tax credit issuance. The act also prohibits the stacking of historic preservation tax credits with neighborhood preservation tax credits or low-income housing tax credits. Historic preservation tax credits will now be capable of being carried back one year or forward five years. (Sections 253.545 to 253.559) SOCIAL AND CONTRIBUTION TAX CREDITS The definition of taxpayer contained in social and contribution tax credit programs is broadened to allow additional donors to participate. Social and contribution tax credits which under current law are non-transferrable will now be transferrable. For all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012, the act decreases the Missouri Development Finance Board Infrastructure Contribution credit from a fifty percent credit for contributions received to a credit equal to thirty-five percent of the amount contributed. The Affordable Housing Assistance Program tax credit is also reduced from fifty-five percent of the eligible donation to forty percent of such donation. The Disabled Access Tax Credit is reduced from fifty percent to thirty-five percent of eligible access expenditures. The per donor contribution limit for food pantry tax credits is increased to $10,000 for donations of food and the per contribution limit for cash is eliminated. The act excludes international adoption expenses from qualifying under the special needs adoption tax credit program. Beginning January 1, 2012, social and contribution tax credits will be equal to fifty percent of the first one thousand dollars of an eligible contribution or donation and thirty-five percent of any excess above one thousand dollars contributed or donated. SUNSET PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN TAX CREDIT PROGRAMS Due to the commission's recommendation that reforms to programs be made on a prospective basis, rather than utilizing traditional sunset provisions, this act prohibits the authorization of tax credits under the following programs after August 28, 2014: 1) The Brownfield Remediation Tax Credit; 2) The Neighborhood Preservation Tax Credit 3) The MDFB Bond Guarantee Tax Credit; 4) The MDFB Infrastructure Development Contribution Tax Credit; 5) The Family Farm Breeding Livestock Tax Credit; 6) The Agricultural Product Utilization Tax Credit; 7) The New Generation Cooperative Tax Credit; 8) The Qualified Beef Tax Credit; 9) The Wine and Grape Producer Tax Credit; and 10) The Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit. The authorization of tax credits under the following programs will be prohibited after August 28, 2015: 1) The Historic Preservation Tax Credit; 2) The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; 3) The Domestic Violence Shelter Tax Credit; 4) The Maternity Home Tax Credit; 5) The Pregnancy Resource Center Tax Credit; 6) The Shared Care Tax Credit; 7) The Youth Opportunities Tax Credit; 8) The Disabled Access Tax Credit; 9) The Family Development Account Tax Credit; 10) The Residential Treatment Agency Tax Credit; 11) The Food Pantry Tax Credit; 12) The Neighborhood Assistance Program; and 13) The Property Tax Credit (Circuit Breaker). Where, under current law, a tax credit was subject to the sunset act, the sunset provision is modified to sunset such program on the date provided above. The limitations on tax credit authorizations provided in the act will not impair an administering agencies ability to issue tax credits that were authorized prior to the date on which authorizations are prohibited, nor will they affect a taxpayer's ability to redeem such tax credits. The act prohibits the approval of any new applicants under the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit program after August 28, 2011. REPEAL OF CERTAIN TAX CREDIT PROGRAMS This act repeals the following tax credit programs: 1) The Charcoal Producers Tax Credit; 2) The Self-Employed Health Insurance Tax Credit; 3) The Railroad Rolling Stock Tax Credit; and 4) The Brownfield Jobs/Investment Credit. The act also repeals provisions of the Missouri property tax credit, commonly referred to as the circuit breaker tax credit, which allow renters to receive the property tax credit for rent constituting taxes paid. Provisions contained in this act are identical to provisions contained in the SS/SCS/SB 280 (2011). This act contains an emergency clause. JASON ZAMKUS
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