Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on Finance
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB266 by Springer (Relating to a prohibition on the enactment of a law imposing an occupation tax on certain entities that enter into transactions conveying securities or imposing a tax on certain securities transactions.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend Chapter 101 of the Tax Code (General Provisions) to prohibit the enactment of an occupation tax on registered securities market operators, or the enactment of a tax on securities transactions conducted by these entities.
The bill would state that certain taxes could not be enacted; no guidance regarding treatment of existing taxes potentially of a prohibited type, or a date after which such enactment would result in an unconstitutional tax, is given. The bill would exempt from the prohibition a number of tax types, one type of fee, and the change in rate of a tax in existence on September 1, 2023. The bill's language with regard to the effect of its provisions on extant taxes is not unambiguous; however, and solely for the purposes of this analysis and looking at the entirety of the bill, it is assumed any current state taxes that would otherwise meet all the conditions for prohibition would remain in force if the bill were to take effect.
Therefore, this bill would have no fiscal implications as it is assumed that it would not affect any current taxes and would prohibit the enactment of certain taxes only in future time periods.
If the assumptions above regarding the prospective nature of the prohibition on enactment were to prove incorrect (e.g., following the final adjudication of litigation) the fiscal implications of this bill could be quite different. If taxes, in existence and producing revenue today, were to be found unlawful there could be significant revenue loss.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2023.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.