1-1 By: Montford S.B. No. 643
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 17, 1995; February 20, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
1-4 April 3, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10,
1-5 Nays 0; April 3, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the administration, imposition, collection, and
1-9 enforcement of mixed beverage taxes.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Subsection (b), Section 183.001,
1-12 Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-13 (1) "Permittee" means a mixed beverage permittee, <or>
1-14 a private club registration permittee, a private club exemption
1-15 certificate permittee, a private club late hours permittee, a daily
1-16 temporary private club permittee, a daily temporary mixed beverage
1-17 permittee, a mixed beverage late hours permittee, or a caterer
1-18 permittee.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 183.022, Tax Code, is
1-20 amended to read as follows:
1-21 (a) A permittee shall file a <sworn> tax return with the
1-22 comptroller not later than the 20th day of each month.
1-23 SECTION 3. Section 183.055, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-24 follows:
1-25 Sec. 183.055. CREDITS AND REFUNDS FOR BAD DEBTS <PENALTY>.
1-26 (a) A permittee may withhold the payment of the tax on a portion
1-27 of the gross receipts that remains unpaid by a purchaser if:
1-28 (1) during the reporting period in which the mixed
1-29 beverage is sold, the permittee determines that the unpaid portion
1-30 will remain unpaid;
1-31 (2) the permittee enters the unpaid portion of the
1-32 sales gross receipts in the permittee's books as a bad debt; and
1-33 (3) the bad debt is claimed as a deduction for federal
1-34 tax purposes during the same or a subsequent reporting period.
1-35 (b) If the portion of a debt determined to be bad under
1-36 Subsection (a) is paid, the permittee shall report and pay the tax
1-37 on the portion during the reporting period in which payment is
1-38 made.
1-39 (c) A permittee is entitled to credit or reimbursement for
1-40 taxes paid on the portion of the gross receipts determined to be
1-41 worthless and actually charged off for federal income tax purposes.
1-42 <When additional taxes are established as due based on an
1-43 examination by the comptroller, a penalty equal to 10 percent of
1-44 the additional taxes due shall be collected with the additional
1-45 taxes due.>
1-46 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 5.50, Alcoholic Beverage
1-47 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-48 (b) The commission may not increase or decrease a fee set by
1-49 this code, but if a statute is enacted creating a certificate,
1-50 permit, or license and there is no fee established, the commission
1-51 by rule may set a fee. The commission by rule shall assess and
1-52 collect annual surcharges from all holders of a certificate,
1-53 permit, or license issued by the commission in addition to any fee
1-54 set by this code. The surcharges shall be set at a level so that
1-55 the anticipated total of all fees collected by the commission for a
1-56 fiscal year and all surcharges for a fiscal year are equal to the
1-57 legislative appropriation to the commission for the regulation of
1-58 alcoholic beverages. In assessing a surcharge the commission may
1-59 not overly penalize any segment of the alcoholic beverage industry
1-60 or impose an undue hardship on small businesses. <In setting the
1-61 surcharge for permittees subject to the mixed beverage tax, the
1-62 commission shall also recover the reasonable and necessary cost of
1-63 the administration of the mixed beverage tax by the comptroller.>
1-64 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 11.61, Alcoholic Beverage
1-65 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-66 (b) The commission or administrator may suspend for not more
1-67 than 60 days or cancel an original or renewal permit if it is
1-68 found, after notice and hearing, that any of the following is true:
2-1 (1) the permittee has been finally convicted of a
2-2 violation of this code;
2-3 (2) the permittee violated a provision of this code or
2-4 a rule of the commission;
2-5 (3) the permittee was finally convicted of a felony
2-6 while holding an original or renewal permit;
2-7 (4) the permittee made a false or misleading statement
2-8 in connection with his original or renewal application, either in
2-9 the formal application itself or in any other written instrument
2-10 relating to the application submitted to the commission, its
2-11 officers, or employees;
2-12 (5) the permittee is indebted to the state for taxes,
2-13 fees, or payment of penalties imposed by this code, <or> by a rule
2-14 of the commission, or by Chapter 183, Tax Code;
2-15 (6) the permittee is not of good moral character or
2-16 his reputation for being a peaceable and law-abiding citizen in the
2-17 community where he resides is bad;
2-18 (7) the place or manner in which the permittee
2-19 conducts his business warrants the cancellation or suspension of
2-20 the permit based on the general welfare, health, peace, morals, and
2-21 safety of the people and on the public sense of decency;
2-22 (8) the permittee is not maintaining an acceptable
2-23 bond;
2-24 (9) the permittee maintains a noisy, lewd, disorderly,
2-25 or unsanitary establishment or has supplied impure or otherwise
2-26 deleterious beverages;
2-27 (10) the permittee is insolvent or mentally or
2-28 physically unable to carry on the management of his establishment;
2-29 (11) the permittee is in the habit of using alcoholic
2-30 beverages to excess;
2-31 (12) the permittee knowingly misrepresented to a
2-32 customer or the public any liquor sold by him;
2-33 (13) the permittee was intoxicated on the licensed
2-34 premises;
2-35 (14) the permittee sold or delivered an alcoholic
2-36 beverage to an intoxicated person;
2-37 (15) the permittee possessed on the licensed premises
2-38 an alcoholic beverage that he was not authorized by his permit to
2-39 purchase and sell;
2-40 (16) a package store or wine only package store
2-41 permittee transported or shipped liquor, or caused it to be
2-42 transported or shipped, into a dry state or a dry area within this
2-43 state;
2-44 (17) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
2-45 person who has a financial interest in an establishment engaged in
2-46 the business of selling beer at retail, other than a mixed beverage
2-47 establishment, except as authorized by Section 22.06, 24.05, or
2-48 102.05 of this code;
2-49 (18) the permittee is residentially domiciled with a
2-50 person whose permit or license was cancelled for cause within the
2-51 12-month period preceding his own application;
2-52 (19) the permittee is not a citizen of the United
2-53 States or has not been a citizen of Texas for a period of one year
2-54 immediately preceding the filing of his application, unless he was
2-55 issued an original or renewal permit on or before September 1,
2-56 1948, and has been a United States citizen at some time; or
2-57 (20) the permittee permitted a person to open a
2-58 container of alcoholic beverage or possess an open container of
2-59 alcoholic beverage on the licensed premises unless a mixed beverage
2-60 permit has been issued for the premises.
2-61 SECTION 6. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 28.17, Alcoholic
2-62 Beverage Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-63 (a) The commission may summarily suspend, without a hearing,
2-64 the permit of a permittee who fails to file a return, post the
2-65 security required by the comptroller under Section 183.053, Tax
2-66 Code, or make a tax payment. The administrative procedure law,
2-67 Chapter 2001, Government Code, <The Administrative Procedure and
2-68 Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-69 Statutes)> does not apply to the commission in the enforcement and
2-70 administration of this section.
3-1 (c) The commission shall terminate a suspension made under
3-2 this section when the permittee files all required returns, posts
3-3 the security required by the comptroller under Section 183.053, Tax
3-4 Code, and makes all required tax payments, including payment of
3-5 penalties that are due.
3-6 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-11 * * * * *