By Holzheauser H.B. No. 1444
74R3514 DAK-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the administration, imposition, collection, and
1-3 enforcement of mixed beverage taxes.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 183.001(b)(1), Tax Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Permittee" means a mixed beverage permittee, <or>
1-8 a private club registration permittee, a private club exemption
1-9 certificate permittee, a private club late hour permittee, a daily
1-10 temporary private club permittee, a daily temporary mixed beverage
1-11 permittee, a mixed beverage late hour permittee, or a caterer
1-12 permittee.
1-13 SECTION 2. Section 183.022(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
1-14 as follows:
1-15 (a) A permittee shall file a <sworn> tax return with the
1-16 comptroller not later than the 20th day of each month.
1-17 SECTION 3. Section 183.055, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-18 follows:
1-19 Sec. 183.055. CREDITS AND REFUNDS FOR BAD DEBTS <PENALTY>.
1-20 (a) A permittee may withhold the payment of the tax on a portion
1-21 of the gross receipts that remains unpaid by a purchaser if:
1-22 (1) during the reporting period in which the mixed
1-23 beverage is sold the permittee determines that the unpaid portion
1-24 will remain unpaid;
2-1 (2) the permittee enters the unpaid portion of the
2-2 sales gross receipts in the permittee's books as a bad debt; and
2-3 (3) the bad debt is claimed as a deduction for federal
2-4 tax purposes during the same or a subsequent reporting period.
2-5 (b) If the portion of a debt determined to be bad under
2-6 Subsection (a) is paid, the permittee shall report and pay the tax
2-7 on the portion during the reporting period in which payment is
2-8 made.
2-9 (c) A permittee is entitled to credit or reimbursement for
2-10 taxes paid on the portion of the gross receipts determined to be
2-11 worthless and actually charged off for federal income tax purposes.
2-12 <When additional taxes are established as due based on an
2-13 examination by the comptroller, a penalty equal to 10 percent of
2-14 the additional taxes due shall be collected with the additional
2-15 taxes due.>
2-16 SECTION 4. Section 5.50(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
2-17 amended to read as follows:
2-18 (b) The commission may not increase or decrease a fee set by
2-19 this code, but if a statute is enacted creating a certificate,
2-20 permit, or license and there is no fee established, the commission
2-21 by rule may set a fee. The commission by rule shall assess and
2-22 collect annual surcharges from all holders of a certificate,
2-23 permit, or license issued by the commission in addition to any fee
2-24 set by this code. The surcharges shall be set at a level so that
2-25 the anticipated total of all fees collected by the commission for a
2-26 fiscal year and all surcharges for a fiscal year are equal to the
2-27 legislative appropriation to the commission for the regulation of
3-1 alcoholic beverages. In assessing a surcharge the commission may
3-2 not overly penalize any segment of the alcoholic beverage industry
3-3 or impose an undue hardship on small businesses. <In setting the
3-4 surcharge for permittees subject to the mixed beverage tax, the
3-5 commission shall also recover the reasonable and necessary cost of
3-6 the administration of the mixed beverage tax by the comptroller.>
3-7 SECTION 5. Section 11.61(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
3-8 amended to read as follows:
3-9 (b) The commission or administrator may suspend for not more
3-10 than 60 days or cancel an original or renewal permit if it is
3-11 found, after notice and hearing, that any of the following is true:
3-12 (1) the permittee has been finally convicted of a
3-13 violation of this code;
3-14 (2) the permittee violated a provision of this code or
3-15 a rule of the commission;
3-16 (3) the permittee was finally convicted of a felony
3-17 while holding an original or renewal permit;
3-18 (4) the permittee made a false or misleading statement
3-19 in connection with his original or renewal application, either in
3-20 the formal application itself or in any other written instrument
3-21 relating to the application submitted to the commission, its
3-22 officers, or employees;
3-23 (5) the permittee is indebted to the state for taxes,
3-24 fees, or payment of penalties imposed by this code, <or> by a rule
3-25 of the commission, or by Chapter 183, Tax Code;
3-26 (6) the permittee is not of good moral character or
3-27 his reputation for being a peaceable and law-abiding citizen in the
4-1 community where he resides is bad;
4-2 (7) the place or manner in which the permittee
4-3 conducts his business warrants the cancellation or suspension of
4-4 the permit based on the general welfare, health, peace, morals, and
4-5 safety of the people and on the public sense of decency;
4-6 (8) the permittee is not maintaining an acceptable
4-7 bond;
4-8 (9) the permittee maintains a noisy, lewd, disorderly,
4-9 or unsanitary establishment or has supplied impure or otherwise
4-10 deleterious beverages;
4-11 (10) the permittee is insolvent or mentally or
4-12 physically unable to carry on the management of his establishment;
4-13 (11) the permittee is in the habit of using alcoholic
4-14 beverages to excess;
4-15 (12) the permittee knowingly misrepresented to a
4-16 customer or the public any liquor sold by him;
4-17 (13) the permittee was intoxicated on the licensed
4-18 premises;
4-19 (14) the permittee sold or delivered an alcoholic
4-20 beverage to an intoxicated person;
4-21 (15) the permittee possessed on the licensed premises
4-22 an alcoholic beverage that he was not authorized by his permit to
4-23 purchase and sell;
4-24 (16) a package store or wine only package store
4-25 permittee transported or shipped liquor, or caused it to be
4-26 transported or shipped, into a dry state or a dry area within this
4-27 state;
5-1 (17) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
5-2 person who has a financial interest in an establishment engaged in
5-3 the business of selling beer at retail, other than a mixed beverage
5-4 establishment, except as authorized by Section 22.06, 24.05, or
5-5 102.05 of this code;
5-6 (18) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
5-7 person whose permit or license was cancelled for cause within the
5-8 12-month period preceding his own application;
5-9 (19) the permittee is not a citizen of the United
5-10 States or has not been a citizen of Texas for a period of one year
5-11 immediately preceding the filing of his application, unless he was
5-12 issued an original or renewal permit on or before September 1,
5-13 1948, and has been a United States citizen at some time; or
5-14 (20) the permittee permitted a person to open a
5-15 container of alcoholic beverage or possess an open container of
5-16 alcoholic beverage on the licensed premises unless a mixed beverage
5-17 permit has been issued for the premises.
5-18 SECTION 6. Sections 28.17(a) and (c), Alcoholic Beverage
5-19 Code, are amended to read as follows:
5-20 (a) The commission may summarily suspend, without a hearing,
5-21 the permit of a permittee who fails to file a return, post the
5-22 security required by the comptroller under Section 183.053, Tax
5-23 Code, or make a tax payment. Chapter 2001, Government Code, <The
5-24 Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a,
5-25 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)> does not apply to the commission in
5-26 the enforcement and administration of this section.
5-27 (c) The commission shall terminate a suspension made under
6-1 this section when the permittee files all required returns, posts
6-2 the security required by the comptroller under Section 183.053, Tax
6-3 Code, and makes all required tax payments, including payment of
6-4 penalties that are due.
6-5 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.