NO. 94Page 1
NO. 94. AN ACT RELATING TO MISCELLANEOUS TECHNICAL TAX AMENDMENTS.
(H.706)
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
***Unitary Combined Reporting***
Sec. 1. 32 V.S.A. § 5811(18)(C) is amended to read:
(18) “Vermont net income” means, for any taxable year and for any corporate taxpayer:
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(C) For a taxable corporation that is a member of an affiliated group and that is engaged in a unitary business with one or more other members of that affiliated group, “Vermont net income”isincludes the allocable share of the combined net income of the group.
***Annual Update of Links to Federal Law***
Sec. 2. 32 V.S.A. § 5824 is amended to read:
§ 5824. ADOPTION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS
The statutes of the United States relating to the federal income tax, as in effect for taxable year 20042005, but without regard to federal income tax rates under Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code, are hereby adopted for the purpose of computing the tax liability under this chapter.
Sec. 3. 32 V.S.A. § 7475 is amended to read:
§ 7475. ADOPTION OF FEDERAL ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAWS
The laws of the United States, relating to the federal estate and gift taxes as in effect on January 1, 20052006, are hereby adopted for the purpose of computing the tax liability under this chapter, except with the credit for state death taxes under Sections 2011 and 2604 as in effect on January 1, 2001, of the Internal Revenue Code, and without any deduction for state death taxes under Section 2058 of the Internal Revenue Code.
***Notice to Tax Department of Changes in Federal Taxable Income***
Sec. 4. 32 V.S.A. § 5866(a) is amended to read:
(a) If, after the time for filing any return required by this chapter, a taxpayer
(1) becomes aware of any information which makes that return materially false, inaccurate or incomplete, or
(2) is notified of any assertion by the United States, whether under section 6212 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or otherwise, that his taxable income, or income tax liability, under the laws of the United States is other than the amount stated in the return, or
(3) files an amended return under the laws of the United States, the taxpayer shall, within thirty60 days of the receipt of that information or notification of that assertion or filing that amended return, notify the commissioner thereof, and of such particulars as may be relevant to the amount of any tax liability of the taxpayer under this chapter.
***Repeal of Expired Credits***
Sec. 5. REPEAL
The following sections of Title 32 are repealed:
(1) § 5929 (new jobs income tax credit).
(2) § 5930 (manufacturer’s investment tax credit).
***Solid Waste Franchise Tax***
Sec. 6. 32 V.S.A. § 5952(a) and (d) are amended to read:
(a)(1) A tax is imposed for each calendar quarter or part thereof upon the franchise or privilege of doing business of every person required by 10 V.S.A. chapter 159 to obtain certification for a facility. Until July 1, 1998, theThe tax shall be imposed in the amount of $6.00 per ton of waste delivered for disposal or incineration at the facility, or at the request of the taxpayer, in the amount of $2.80 per cubic yard of waste delivered for disposal at the facility, regardless of the amount charged by the operator to recoup its expenses of operation, including the expense of this tax. Effective July 1, 1998, in all instances in which the tax is imposed, it shall be imposed in an amount of $6.00 per ton, except in the case of landfills that receive 1,000 tons per year or less and are allowed under subsection (d) of this section to pay the tax on the basis of volume. A taxpayer who elects to pay the tax based on volume shall compute the tax based on the volume that waste occupies immediately after in-place compaction by the taxpayer or his or her agent.
For purposes of this section, it shall be rebuttably presumed that two cubic yards of waste that have never been compacted will occupy one cubic yard immediately after in-place compaction and that waste that has been partially compacted prior to disposal will not befurther reduced after in-place compaction. If a taxpayer uses a ratio of other than 2:1 for waste that has never been compacted or 1:1 for partially compacted waste, the burden is on the taxpayer to demonstrate that the conversion ratio is accurate.
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(d) Every person required to pay the tax imposed by this subchapter shall use a weight scale that accurately gauges the weight of the waste and shall keep accurate contemporaneous records of the volume or weight of all waste delivered for disposal; provided, however, that a landfill receiving less than 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year which does not have scales which accurately gauge the weight of the waste may compute weight indirectly from volume using accurate records of the volume of waste delivered for disposal and a conversion rate approved by the commissioner. Until July 1, 1998, a person required to pay the tax imposed by this subchapter may elect to pay the tax based on weight or volume, or may elect to pay the tax on some waste by weight and on other waste by volume, provided the taxpayer shall keep accurate records substantiating the method or methods elected. The taxpayer’s records relating to imposition of the tax imposed by this subchapter shall be available for inspection or examination at any time upon demand by the commissioner of taxes or the secretary of the agency of natural resources, their duly authorized agents or employees and shall be preserved for a period of three years.
* * * Language Update in Renter Rebate Definitions * * *
Sec. 7. 32 V.S.A. § 6061(7) is amended to read:
(7) “Rent constituting property taxes” means for any homesteadhousesite and for any taxable year, at the claimant’s option, (A) 21 percent of the gross rent or (B) that portion of the gross rent which equals the property tax assessed for payment in the calendar year allocable to the claimant’s rental unit for the period rented by the claimant. “Gross rent” means the rent actually paid during the taxable year by the individual or other members of the household solely for the right of occupancy of the homestead during the taxable year. If a claimant’s rent is government-subsidized, the property tax allocable to the claimant’s rental unit shall be reduced in the same proportion as the rent is reduced by the subsidy. “Rent constituting property taxes” shall not include payments made under a written homesharing agreement pursuant to a nonprofit homesharing program, or payments for a room in a nursing home in any month for which Medicaid payments have been made on behalf of the claimant to the nursing home for room charges.
Sec. 8. 32 V.S.A. § 5401(7)(A) is amended to read:
(A) “Homestead” means the principal dwelling and parcel of land surrounding the dwelling, owned and occupied by a resident individual as the individual’s domicile, or for purposes of the renter property tax adjustment under subsection 6066(b) of this title, rented and occupied by a resident individual as the individual’s domicile.
* * * Conforming to Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Terminology * * *
Sec. 9. 32 V.S.A. § 9746 is amended to read:
§ 9746. Snowmobile, motorboat and vessel sales
(a) If a person sells a snowmobile, motorboat or vessel and within three months purchases another such vehicle or vessel, “receipt”“sales price” for purposes of the tax on the new vehicle or vessel shall exclude the lesser of
(1) the sale price of the first vehicle or vessel; or
(2) the average book value at the time of sale of the first vehicle or vessel.
(b) If a person receives payment under a contract of insurance for
(1) total destruction of a snowmobile, motorboat or vessel; or
(2) damage to such vehicle or vessel which was then accepted without repair as a trade-in by the seller of a new snowmobile, motorboat or vessel; and within three months of such destruction or damage the person purchases another snowmobile, motorboat or vessel, “receipt”“sales price” for purposes of the tax on the new vehicle or vessel shall exclude the insurance payment and any trade-in allowance for the damaged vehicle.
(c) A vendor determining receiptssales priceunder this section shall obtain in good faith from the purchaser, on a form provided by the department of taxes and signed by the purchaser and bearing his or her name and address, a certificate of sale or payment of insurance proceeds with regard to the first vehicle or vessel.
* * * Effective Dates * * *
Sec. 10. EFFECTIVE DATES
This act shall take effect upon passage, except:
(1) Sec. 1 (definition of “Vermont net income”) shall apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2006;
(2) Sec. 2 (update of link to federal income tax laws) shall apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.
(3) Sec. 3 (update of link to federal estate and gift tax laws) shall apply to estates of decedents with a date of death on or after, and gifts made on or after, January 1, 2006.
(4) Sec. 9(streamlined sales tax terminology adopted for “sales price”) shall take effect on the first day of the second quarter following the date of Vermont’s membership in the multistate streamlined sales and use tax agreement.
Approved: March 8, 2006