BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 645

By: Orr

Ways & Means

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law requires an applicant for a property tax exemption to provide the applicant's driver's license, personal identification certificate, or social security number, in addition to the person's name, on the application form.  Ensuring the security of such personal information has become more important with the increased prevalence of identity theft.  Also, when the application is for a tax exemption for an organization, providing an individual's personal information is misleading and unnecessary.  H.B. 645 allows certain applicants for a property tax exemption an alternative to providing personal identification information on the application form.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 645 amends the Tax Code to require a form for an application for a property tax exemption to allow the applicant, if the applicant is a charitable organization with a federal tax identification number, to provide the organization's federal tax identification number in lieu of a driver's license number, personal identification certificate number, or social security account number.

H.B. 645 makes its provisions applicable only to an application for a property tax exemption of property owned by a charitable organization filed with a chief appraiser on or after September 1, 2011, and provides that such an application filed with a chief appraiser before that date is governed by the law in effect when the application was filed and continues the law in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.