By Cain S.B. No. 1642
75R860 SMH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to applications for ad valorem tax exemptions and
1-3 penalties for making certain erroneous exemption claims.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 11.43(f), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (f) The comptroller, in prescribing the contents of the
1-8 application form for each kind of exemption, shall ensure that the
1-9 form requires an applicant to furnish the information necessary to
1-10 determine the validity of the exemption claim. The form must
1-11 require an applicant to provide the applicant's name and driver's
1-12 license number, personal identification certificate number, or
1-13 social security account number. The comptroller shall include on
1-14 the forms a notice of the penalties prescribed by Section 37.10,
1-15 Penal Code, for making or filing an application containing a false
1-16 statement. The comptroller shall include, on application forms for
1-17 exemptions that do not have to be claimed annually, a statement
1-18 explaining that the application need not be made annually and that
1-19 if the exemption is allowed, the applicant has a duty to notify the
1-20 chief appraiser when the applicant's [his] entitlement to the
1-21 exemption ends. In this subsection:
1-22 (1) "Driver's license" has the meaning assigned by
1-23 Section 521.001, Transportation Code.
1-24 (2) "Personal identification certificate" means a
2-1 certificate issued by the Department of Public Safety under
2-2 Subchapter E, Chapter 521, Transportation Code.
2-3 SECTION 2. Section 33.01, Tax Code, is amended by adding
2-4 Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
2-5 (d) In lieu of the penalty imposed under Subsection (a), a
2-6 delinquent tax incurs a penalty of 50 percent of the amount of the
2-7 tax without regard to the number of months the tax has been
2-8 delinquent if the tax is delinquent because the property owner
2-9 received an exemption under:
2-10 (1) Section 11.13 and the chief appraiser subsequently
2-11 cancels the exemption because the residence was not the principal
2-12 residence of the property owner and the property owner received an
2-13 exemption for another residence homestead for the tax year in which
2-14 the tax was imposed;
2-15 (2) Section 11.13(c) or (d) for a person who is 65 or
2-16 older and the chief appraiser subsequently cancels the exemption
2-17 because the property owner was younger than 65 on the exemption
2-18 qualification date; or
2-19 (3) Section 11.13(q) and the chief appraiser
2-20 subsequently cancels the exemption because the property owner was
2-21 younger than 55 when the property owner's spouse died.
2-22 (e) A penalty imposed under Subsection (d) does not apply
2-23 if, at any time before the date the tax becomes delinquent, the
2-24 property owner gives to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
2-25 district in which the property is located written notice of
2-26 circumstances that would disqualify the owner for the exemption.
2-27 SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by Section 1 of this
3-1 Act applies only to an application for an exemption from ad valorem
3-2 taxation filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
3-3 application for an exemption from ad valorem taxation filed before
3-4 the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect on
3-5 the date the application was filed, and that law is continued in
3-6 effect for that purpose.
3-7 (b) The change in law made by Section 2 of this Act applies
3-8 only to penalties incurred on ad valorem taxes that become
3-9 delinquent on or after the effective date of this Act. Penalties
3-10 incurred on ad valorem taxes that became delinquent before the
3-11 effective date of this Act are covered by the law in effect when
3-12 the taxes became delinquent, and that law is continued in effect
3-13 for that purpose.
3-14 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
3-15 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.