79S10125 SMH-F
By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 59
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to ad valorem tax rebates to individuals who lease or rent
their principal residences; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 1, Tax Code, is amended by adding Chapter
61 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 61. PROPERTY TAX REBATES FOR LESSEES AND RENTERS
Sec. 61.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Gross rental" means the amount paid in an arm's
length transaction for the right of occupancy of a residential
dwelling unit for all or part of a year. Gross rental does not
include amounts paid for utilities, services, or personal property
provided by a landlord as part of a lease or rental agreement unless
the comptroller by rule provides for including those amounts in
gross rental.
(2) "Household" means an applicant for a tax rebate
under this chapter and any individual, including the applicant's
spouse, who resides with the applicant.
(3) "Household income" means the total income of all
members of a household.
(4) "Income" means the sum of:
(A) adjusted gross income, as defined by Section
62, Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
(B) the amounts of the following items, to the
extent they are not included in adjusted gross income:
(i) nontaxable interest earned;
(ii) public assistance benefit payments;
(iii) workers' compensation payments;
(iv) unemployment insurance payments;
(v) distributions from an individual
retirement account;
(vi) payments from an annuity or pension
other than a disability pension; and
(vii) contributions to individual
retirement accounts, simplified employee pension individual
retirement accounts, or other retirement plans that are deductible
from adjusted gross income.
(5) "Residential dwelling unit" means a structure or a
separately secured and occupied portion of a multiple purpose or
multiple residential dwelling unit structure that is designed or
adapted for and is used for a human residence and the land, not to
exceed one acre, and improvements used exclusively for the
residential occupancy of the structure.
Sec. 61.002. ELIGIBILITY FOR TAX REBATE PAYMENT. (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (b), to provide ad valorem tax
relief, an individual is eligible to receive a tax rebate payment
for gross rental for a residential dwelling unit in a year that
represents a portion of the ad valorem taxes indirectly paid by the
individual as part of the gross rental if:
(1) the individual is a resident of this state for the
entire year;
(2) the individual did not qualify a property for a
residence homestead exemption under Section 11.13 in that year;
(3) the individual leased or rented the residential
dwelling unit during all or part of that year;
(4) the residential dwelling unit was the individual's
principal residence during all or part of that year;
(5) ad valorem taxes were imposed on the residential
dwelling unit in that year;
(6) the individual was not listed as a dependent on
another person's federal income tax return for that year; and
(7) the legislature appropriates sufficient money to
pay tax rebates under this chapter in the state fiscal year in which
the individual applies for the grant to make the payment.
(b) Only one tax rebate payment may be made under this
section for a residential dwelling unit in a year. If two or more
individuals who are eligible for the payment jointly occupy a
residential dwelling unit, the individuals may apply for and
receive the payment jointly or may choose one individual to apply
for and receive the payment. If the individuals cannot agree, the
comptroller may determine how to allocate the payment, and the
comptroller's determination is final.
Sec. 61.003. AMOUNT OF TAX REBATE. (a) The amount of the
tax rebate for a tax year is the lesser of:
(1) $750; or
(2) one-half of the amount by which the gross rental
paid by an eligible applicant for a year on the applicant's
residential dwelling unit exceeds 15 percent of the applicant's
total household income for that year.
(b) If the comptroller determines that the gross rental is
excessive because of collusion between the landlord and the
applicant, the comptroller shall adjust the applicant's rental for
purposes of computation of the amount of the tax rebate to a
reasonable amount.
Sec. 61.004. RESIDENCE IN RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNIT FOR
ONLY PART OF YEAR. If the residential dwelling unit was not the
applicant's principal residence for the entire year, only that
portion of the gross rental equal to the proportion the number of
days the residential dwelling unit was the applicant's principal
residence bears to 365 may be used to calculate the amount of the
tax rebate.
Sec. 61.005. APPLICATION FOR TAX REBATE. (a) To receive a
tax rebate under this chapter, an individual must file a completed
application for a tax rebate payment with the comptroller on a form
prescribed by the comptroller.
(b) The applicant shall include in or attach to the form all
information required by the comptroller to establish eligibility
for and the amount of the tax rebate.
Sec. 61.006. FILING DEADLINE. An application for a tax
rebate payment must be filed with the comptroller before May 1 of
the year following the year in which the gross rental was paid or
the applicant forfeits the right to a tax rebate payment. The
comptroller may extend the filing deadline for a single period not
to exceed 30 days for an applicant who shows good cause for the
extension.
Sec. 61.007. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION; OFFENSE. (a) The
information submitted by an applicant to the comptroller under
Section 61.005 is confidential. The information may be used for
statistical purposes if the information is provided in a form that
does not identify a specific applicant.
(b) A person who recklessly discloses information made
confidential by this section to a person not authorized to receive
the information commits an offense. An offense under this
subsection is a Class B misdemeanor.
Sec. 61.008. AVAILABILITY OF APPLICATIONS. (a) The
comptroller by rule shall prescribe the form for an application for
a tax rebate under this chapter. The form must include:
(1) a brief explanation of the requirements for
obtaining a tax rebate;
(2) instructions for completing and filing the form;
and
(3) a notice of the penalties prescribed by Section
37.10, Penal Code, for making or filing an application containing a
false statement.
(b) The comptroller shall print a sufficient number of
application forms and deliver the forms to the chief appraiser for
each appraisal district and to each county assessor-collector. The
chief appraiser for each appraisal district and each county
assessor-collector shall make the application forms readily
available at no charge.
(c) Each year the comptroller, the chief appraiser for each
appraisal district, and each county assessor-collector shall
publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to notify all eligible
individuals, the availability of the application forms and the
requirements for obtaining a tax rebate under this chapter.
Sec. 61.009. ACTION ON TAX REBATE APPLICATIONS. (a) Not
later than the 30th day after the date the comptroller receives an
application for a tax rebate under this chapter, the comptroller
shall consider the application and any accompanying information
and:
(1) approve the application;
(2) modify the application and approve the application
as modified;
(3) deny the application; or
(4) request additional information in support of the
application.
(b) If the comptroller requests additional information, the
applicant must provide the information not later than the 30th day
after the date the request is sent or the application is considered
to have been withdrawn. Not later than the 30th day after the date
the additional information is received, the comptroller shall act
on the application.
(c) If the comptroller approves the application, the
comptroller shall calculate the amount of the tax rebate due and
send a payment in that amount to the applicant by first class mail
at the address shown on the application. The payment shall be made
from money appropriated to the comptroller for that purpose.
(d) If the comptroller modifies or denies the application,
the comptroller shall deliver written notice of the modification or
denial to the applicant not later than the fifth day after the date
the action is taken and briefly state the reasons for the action.
Sec. 61.010. REASONS FOR DENIAL OF APPLICATIONS. The
comptroller shall deny an application for a tax rebate under this
chapter if the comptroller determines that:
(1) the applicant is ineligible for a tax rebate; or
(2) the application was filed with intent to defraud
this state.
Sec. 61.011. APPEALS FROM ACTIONS ON TAX REBATE
APPLICATIONS. (a) An applicant aggrieved by an action of the
comptroller on an application for a tax rebate under this chapter
may appeal the action by filing a petition with the comptroller not
later than the 30th day after the date the applicant receives notice
of the action.
(b) Not later than the 60th day after the date the petition
is filed, the comptroller shall hold a hearing on the appeal. The
hearing is subject to Chapter 2001, Government Code.
Sec. 61.012. IMPROPER TAX REBATE. (a) If the comptroller
determines that an individual improperly received a tax rebate
under this chapter, the comptroller may recover the amount of the
improper tax rebate by:
(1) deducting the amount of the improper tax rebate
from the amount of any future tax rebate paid to the individual; or
(2) bringing an action on behalf of the state to
recover the amount of the improper rebate.
(b) The attorney general shall represent the comptroller in
an action under Subsection (a)(2). Venue of the action is in Travis
County.
Sec. 61.013. ELIGIBILITY FOR TAX REBATE PERSONAL. (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (b), the right to apply for a tax
rebate under this chapter is personal and does not survive the death
of an eligible individual.
(b) If an applicant dies after filing a timely application,
the comptroller shall pay the amount the applicant was eligible to
receive to the applicant's surviving spouse or, if the applicant
was not survived by a spouse, the applicant's estate.
Sec. 61.014. RULES FOR ADMINISTRATION OF TAX REBATES. The
comptroller shall adopt rules to implement this chapter. The rules
shall specify:
(1) any additional requirement for an application for
a tax rebate under this chapter;
(2) what constitutes good cause for purposes of
receiving an extension of the deadline for filing an application;
and
(3) whether amounts paid for utilities, services, or
personal property provided by a landlord as part of a lease or
rental agreement are part of gross rental.
Sec. 61.015. AUDIT OF APPLICATIONS. The comptroller shall
annually audit a representative sample of applications received
under this chapter.
Sec. 61.016. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER. (a) The comptroller
shall annually submit to the governor, lieutenant governor, and
speaker of the house of representatives a report that shows for the
preceding year, by income level, gross rental, and county of
residence of applicants:
(1) the number of applications for tax rebates
submitted under this chapter;
(2) the number of applications approved, approved as
modified, or denied; and
(3) the amount of tax rebates paid.
(b) The comptroller may not include confidential
information in the report.
(c) The comptroller shall notify the members of the
legislature of the availability of the report required by this
section and shall make the report available to members of the
legislature on request.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect January 1, 2006, but only
if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 79th Legislature,
1st Called Session, 2005, authorizing the legislature to provide ad
valorem tax relief to individuals who lease or rent their principal
residences by rebating a portion of the taxes imposed on that
residential property is approved by the voters. If that amendment
is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.