By: Montford S.B. No. 643
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the administration, imposition, collection, and
1-2 enforcement of mixed beverage taxes.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Subsection (b), Section 183.001,
1-5 Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 (1) "Permittee" means a mixed beverage permittee, <or>
1-7 a private club registration permittee, a private club exemption
1-8 certificate permittee, a private club late hours permittee, a daily
1-9 temporary private club permittee, a daily temporary mixed beverage
1-10 permittee, a mixed beverage late hours permittee, or a caterer
1-11 permittee.
1-12 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 183.022, Tax Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (a) A permittee shall file a <sworn> tax return with the
1-15 comptroller not later than the 20th day of each month.
1-16 SECTION 3. Section 183.055, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-17 follows:
1-18 Sec. 183.055. CREDITS AND REFUNDS FOR BAD DEBTS <PENALTY>.
1-19 (a) A permittee may withhold the payment of the tax on a portion
1-20 of the gross receipts that remains unpaid by a purchaser if:
1-21 (1) during the reporting period in which the mixed
1-22 beverage is sold, the permittee determines that the unpaid portion
1-23 will remain unpaid;
1-24 (2) the permittee enters the unpaid portion of the
2-1 sales gross receipts in the permittee's books as a bad debt; and
2-2 (3) the bad debt is claimed as a deduction for federal
2-3 tax purposes during the same or a subsequent reporting period.
2-4 (b) If the portion of a debt determined to be bad under
2-5 Subsection (a) is paid, the permittee shall report and pay the tax
2-6 on the portion during the reporting period in which payment is
2-7 made.
2-8 (c) A permittee is entitled to credit or reimbursement for
2-9 taxes paid on the portion of the gross receipts determined to be
2-10 worthless and actually charged off for federal income tax purposes.
2-11 <When additional taxes are established as due based on an
2-12 examination by the comptroller, a penalty equal to 10 percent of
2-13 the additional taxes due shall be collected with the additional
2-14 taxes due.>
2-15 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 5.50, Alcoholic Beverage
2-16 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-17 (b) The commission may not increase or decrease a fee set by
2-18 this code, but if a statute is enacted creating a certificate,
2-19 permit, or license and there is no fee established, the commission
2-20 by rule may set a fee. The commission by rule shall assess and
2-21 collect annual surcharges from all holders of a certificate,
2-22 permit, or license issued by the commission in addition to any fee
2-23 set by this code. The surcharges shall be set at a level so that
2-24 the anticipated total of all fees collected by the commission for a
2-25 fiscal year and all surcharges for a fiscal year are equal to the
2-26 legislative appropriation to the commission for the regulation of
2-27 alcoholic beverages. In assessing a surcharge the commission may
3-1 not overly penalize any segment of the alcoholic beverage industry
3-2 or impose an undue hardship on small businesses. <In setting the
3-3 surcharge for permittees subject to the mixed beverage tax, the
3-4 commission shall also recover the reasonable and necessary cost of
3-5 the administration of the mixed beverage tax by the comptroller.>
3-6 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 11.61, Alcoholic Beverage
3-7 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-8 (b) The commission or administrator may suspend for not more
3-9 than 60 days or cancel an original or renewal permit if it is
3-10 found, after notice and hearing, that any of the following is true:
3-11 (1) the permittee has been finally convicted of a
3-12 violation of this code;
3-13 (2) the permittee violated a provision of this code or
3-14 a rule of the commission;
3-15 (3) the permittee was finally convicted of a felony
3-16 while holding an original or renewal permit;
3-17 (4) the permittee made a false or misleading statement
3-18 in connection with his original or renewal application, either in
3-19 the formal application itself or in any other written instrument
3-20 relating to the application submitted to the commission, its
3-21 officers, or employees;
3-22 (5) the permittee is indebted to the state for taxes,
3-23 fees, or payment of penalties imposed by this code, <or> by a rule
3-24 of the commission, or by Chapter 183, Tax Code;
3-25 (6) the permittee is not of good moral character or
3-26 his reputation for being a peaceable and law-abiding citizen in the
3-27 community where he resides is bad;
4-1 (7) the place or manner in which the permittee
4-2 conducts his business warrants the cancellation or suspension of
4-3 the permit based on the general welfare, health, peace, morals, and
4-4 safety of the people and on the public sense of decency;
4-5 (8) the permittee is not maintaining an acceptable
4-6 bond;
4-7 (9) the permittee maintains a noisy, lewd, disorderly,
4-8 or unsanitary establishment or has supplied impure or otherwise
4-9 deleterious beverages;
4-10 (10) the permittee is insolvent or mentally or
4-11 physically unable to carry on the management of his establishment;
4-12 (11) the permittee is in the habit of using alcoholic
4-13 beverages to excess;
4-14 (12) the permittee knowingly misrepresented to a
4-15 customer or the public any liquor sold by him;
4-16 (13) the permittee was intoxicated on the licensed
4-17 premises;
4-18 (14) the permittee sold or delivered an alcoholic
4-19 beverage to an intoxicated person;
4-20 (15) the permittee possessed on the licensed premises
4-21 an alcoholic beverage that he was not authorized by his permit to
4-22 purchase and sell;
4-23 (16) a package store or wine only package store
4-24 permittee transported or shipped liquor, or caused it to be
4-25 transported or shipped, into a dry state or a dry area within this
4-26 state;
4-27 (17) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
5-1 person who has a financial interest in an establishment engaged in
5-2 the business of selling beer at retail, other than a mixed beverage
5-3 establishment, except as authorized by Section 22.06, 24.05, or
5-4 102.05 of this code;
5-5 (18) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
5-6 person whose permit or license was cancelled for cause within the
5-7 12-month period preceding his own application;
5-8 (19) the permittee is not a citizen of the United
5-9 States or has not been a citizen of Texas for a period of one year
5-10 immediately preceding the filing of his application, unless he was
5-11 issued an original or renewal permit on or before September 1,
5-12 1948, and has been a United States citizen at some time; or
5-13 (20) the permittee permitted a person to open a
5-14 container of alcoholic beverage or possess an open container of
5-15 alcoholic beverage on the licensed premises unless a mixed beverage
5-16 permit has been issued for the premises.
5-17 SECTION 6. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 28.17, Alcoholic
5-18 Beverage Code, are amended to read as follows:
5-19 (a) The commission may summarily suspend, without a hearing,
5-20 the permit of a permittee who fails to file a return, post the
5-21 security required by the comptroller under Section 183.053, Tax
5-22 Code, or make a tax payment. The administrative procedure law,
5-23 Chapter 2001, Government Code, <The Administrative Procedure and
5-24 Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil
5-25 Statutes)> does not apply to the commission in the enforcement and
5-26 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.