LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 18, 2001 TO: Honorable Rene Oliveira, Chair, House Committee on Ways & Means FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2582 by Chavez (Relating to customs brokers.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would amend Chapter 151 of the Tax Code to allow customs brokers licensed by the Comptroller to issue documentation certifying that delivery of tangible personal property was made to a point outside the territorial limits of the United States only if the broker actually watched the property cross the border of the United States, actually watched the property being placed on a common carrier for delivery outside the United States, or verified that the purchaser was a foreign national transporting the property outside of the United States. A customs broker would have to examine picture identification of the purchaser, require the purchaser to produce the original receipt for the property, require the purchaser to state the foreign country destination of the property, require the purchaser to state the date and time when the property would be expected to arrive in the foreign country, and require the purchaser to sign a form stating the required information and documentation was provided and notifying the purchaser of the liabilities if the property was not properly exported or if a refund was improperly obtained. The Comptroller could suspend or revoke a license issued to a customs broker if the broker did not comply with the requirements relating to issuing documentation showing exportation of property or if the brokers knowingly or intentionally issued documentation that was false to obtain a refund of taxes paid on tangible personal property not exported or to assist another person in obtaining a refund. Further, the Comptroller could require a customs broker to pay the amount of any tax refunded if the broker did not comply with the documentation requirements. In addition to the amount of the refunded tax, the Comptroller could require the customs broker to pay a penalty in an amount equal to two times the amount of the refunded tax, but not less than $500 nor more than $5,000. The requirement to pay the refunded tax and penalty would be in addition to any civil or criminal penalty provided by law. Under current law, proof of export may be shown in several ways. One way is through documentation provided by a U.S. Customs Broker. If this method is utilized, certain conditions must be met. The bill would amplify on the existing provision of Section 151.307(b)(2)(B), relating to certification of delivery made to points outside the territorial limits of the U.S., to include three possible options for certification: 1) a visual verification of the property crossing the border; 2) visual verification of property being placed on a common carrier for delivery outside the U.S; or 3) verification that the purchaser of the property is a foreign national transporting the property to a destination outside of the U.S. For the purposes of this analysis, it was assumed that, to the degree that the third method is used, losses will occur due to the more lenient nature of the certification process. Presently, a customs broker is responsible for verification; the bill would provide the option that the purchaser state that the item is destined for an international location, along with the expected date and time of arrival. It is assumed that an insignificant portion of these sales would become non-taxable as the more lenient verification processes yielded some non-legitimate refund claims. Note: Data on taxable retail sales in the South Texas and Upper Rio Grande regions were obtained from Comptroller tax files. It is estimated that approximately $60 million in state and local sales and use taxes is refunded annually to consumers for tangible personal property legitimately exported from Texas to Mexico. The bill would take effect September 1, 2001. Local Government Impact No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, SD, WP, SM