78R7029 CBH-F
By: Bonnen H.B. No. 3154
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain information regarding sales and use taxes
imposed by a municipality and to the confidentiality of that
information; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 151.027, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read
as follows:
(c) This section does not prohibit:
(1) the examination of information, if authorized by
the comptroller, by another state officer or law enforcement
officer, by a tax official of another state, by a tax official of
the United Mexican States, or by an official of the United States if
a reciprocal agreement exists;
(2) the delivery to a taxpayer, or a taxpayer's
authorized representative, of a copy of a report or other paper
filed by the taxpayer under this chapter;
(3) the publication of statistics classified to
prevent the identification of a particular report or items in a
particular report;
(4) the use of records, reports, or information
secured, derived, or obtained by the attorney general or the
comptroller in an action under this chapter against the same
taxpayer who furnished the information;
(5) the delivery to a successor, receiver, executor,
administrator, assignee, or guarantor of a taxpayer of information
about items included in the measure and amounts of any unpaid tax or
amounts of tax, penalties, and interest required to be collected;
(6) the delivery of information to an eligible
municipality in accordance with Section 321.3022 or 321.3023; or
(7) the release of information in or derived from a
record, report, or other instrument required to be furnished under
this chapter by a governmental body, as that term is defined in
Section 552.003, Government Code.
(d) Unless otherwise authorized by law, an officer or
employee of an eligible municipality, or an agent acting on behalf
of that municipality, who obtains access to information relating to
a seller under Subsection (c)(6) may not:
(1) reveal the information or any part of the
information, such as a seller's business affairs, operations,
profits, losses, or expenditures, to an unauthorized person;
(2) permit the information or any abstract or part of
the information to be seen or examined by an unauthorized person; or
(3) retain the information after the person's service
as an officer or employee of the municipality ends or the person's
contract with the municipality expires.
(e) A person who violates Subsection (d) commits an offense.
An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 321, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 321.3023 to read as follows:
Sec. 321.3023. INFORMATION ON CERTAIN TAXPAYERS. (a) A
municipality that has imposed a tax under this chapter may provide
to the comptroller information relating to:
(1) a seller that the municipality, in good faith,
believes has not collected or reported to the comptroller as
required by law revenue from a tax imposed by the municipality under
this chapter; or
(2) tax revenue that the municipality, in good faith,
believes has been paid by a seller but that was not properly
reported by the seller as being revenue from a tax imposed by the
municipality under this chapter.
(b) After investigating the information provided under
Subsection (a), the comptroller may provide to the municipality
information relating to whether the seller failed to:
(1) collect or report to the comptroller as required
by law revenue from a tax imposed by the municipality under this
chapter and, if so:
(A) the name and taxpayer identification number
of the seller; and
(B) the amount of municipal tax revenue that was
not collected or reported; or
(2) report collected tax revenue as being revenue from
a tax imposed by the municipality under this chapter and, if so:
(A) the name and taxpayer identification number
of the seller; and
(B) the amount of revenue that should have been
reported as being revenue from a tax imposed by the municipality
under this chapter.
(c) The municipality may request, and the comptroller may
provide, information described by Subsection (b) for any tax
reporting period that ended during the four-year period preceding
the date on which the municipality requested the information.
(d) Sections 151.027(d) and (e) apply to an officer or
employee of the municipality or agent acting on behalf of the
municipality who is authorized to examine information provided by
the comptroller under this section.
(e) To receive information under Subsection (b), the
governing body of a municipality requesting the information must
certify to the comptroller by resolution:
(1) the name of each officer or employee of the
municipality or agent acting on behalf of the municipality who will
be authorized to examine the information; and
(2) that each agent named in the resolution as
authorized to examine the information:
(A) has a contract with the municipality to
perform that service on the date the resolution is adopted;
(B) is prohibited under that contract from
disclosing any part of the information or any information derived
from that information to any person other than a municipal officer
or employee named in the resolution as authorized to examine the
information;
(C) is prohibited under that contract from
performing consulting services for a seller, other than another
political subdivision, during the term of the contract;
(D) has received notice that the information is
confidential by law and that Sections 151.027(d) and (e) apply to
the agent; and
(E) is prohibited under that contract from
retaining the information or any information derived from that
information after the contract expires.
(f) If the comptroller believes that information obtained
by a municipality under Subsection (b) has been disclosed to a
person not named in the municipality's resolution as authorized to
examine the information or has been used for a purpose that does not
comply with law, the comptroller may:
(1) refuse to provide additional information to the
municipality;
(2) require the municipality to return information the
comptroller previously provided; or
(3) place conditions on the eligibility of the
municipality to receive information in the future.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
Amend H.B. 3154 as follows:
In SECTION 1 of the bill, in new subsection (d), strike
"relating to a seller under Subsection (c)(6)" and substitute "in
accordance with Section 321.3023".
Hegar