MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2004 Regular Session
To: Ways and Means
By: Representative Fleming
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-65-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO IMPOSE A SALES TAX ON THE RENTING OR LEASING OF REAL PROPERTY, EXCEPT WHEN THE RENTING OR LEASING IS FOR THE USE OF THE LAND ONLY; TO AMEND SECTION 27-65-75, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT 50% OF THE SALES TAX REVENUE FROM SUCH RENTALS OR LEASES WITHIN A MUNICIPALITY SHALL BE ALLOCATED FOR DISTRIBUTION AND PAID TO SUCH MUNICIPALITY; TO PROVIDE THAT 25% OF THE SALES TAX REVENUE FROM SUCH RENTALS OR LEASES WITHIN A COUNTY, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER INSIDE OR OUTSIDE A MUNICIPALITY, SHALL BE ALLOCATED FOR DISTRIBUTION AND PAID TO SUCH COUNTY; TO AMEND SECTION 27-65-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 27-65-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-65-23. Upon every person engaging or continuing in any of the following businesses or activities there is hereby levied, assessed and shall be collected a tax equal to seven percent (7%) of the gross income of the business, except as otherwise provided:
Air conditioning installation or repairs;
Automobile, aircraft, motorcycle, boat or any other vehicle repairing or servicing;
Billiards, pool or domino parlors;
Bowling or tenpin alleys;
Burglar and fire alarm systems or services;
Car washing--automatic, self-service, or manual;
Computer software sales and services;
Cotton compresses or cotton warehouses;
Custom creosoting or treating, custom planing, custom sawing;
Custom meat processing;
Electricians, electrical work, wiring, all repairs or installation of electrical equipment;
Elevator or escalator installing, repairing or servicing;
Film developing or photo finishing;
Foundries, machine or general repairing;
Furniture repairing or upholstering;
Grading, excavating, ditching, dredging or landscaping;
Hotels, motels, tourist courts or camps, trailer parks;
Insulating services or repairs;
Jewelry or watch repairing;
Laundering, cleaning, pressing or dyeing;
Marina services;
Mattress renovating;
Office and business machine repairing;
Parking garages and lots;
Plumbing or pipe fitting;
Public storage warehouses (There shall be no tax levied on gross income of a public storage warehouse derived from the temporary storage of tangible personal property in this state pending shipping or mailing of the property to another state.);
Refrigerating equipment repairs;
Radio or television installing, repairing, or servicing;
Renting or leasing personal property used within this state;
Services performed in connection with geophysical surveying, exploring, developing, drilling, producing, distributing, or testing of oil, gas, water and other mineral resources;
Shoe repairing;
Storage lockers;
Telephone answering or paging services;
Termite or pest control services;
Tin and sheet metal shops;
TV cable systems, subscription TV services, and other similar activities;
Vulcanizing, repairing or recapping of tires or tubes;
Welding; and
Woodworking or wood turning shops.
Income from services taxed herein performed for electric power associations in the ordinary and necessary operation of their generating or distribution systems shall be taxed at the rate of one percent (1%).
Income from services taxed herein performed on materials for use in track or track structures to a railroad whose rates are fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission or the Mississippi Public Service Commission shall be taxed at the rate of three percent (3%).
Income from the renting or leasing of real property, except when the renting or leasing is for the use of the land only, shall be taxed at the rate of one percent (1%).
Income from renting or leasing tangible personal property used within this state shall be taxed at the same rates as sales of the same property.
Persons doing business in this state who rent transportation equipment with a situs within or without the state to common, contract or private commercial carriers are taxed on that part of the income derived from use within this state. If specific accounting is impracticable, a formula may be used with approval of the commissioner.
A lessor may deduct from the tax computed on the rental income from tangible personal property a credit for sales or use tax paid to this state at the time of purchase of the specific personal property being leased or rented until such credit has been exhausted.
Charges for custom processing and repairing services may be excluded from gross taxable income when the property on which the service was performed is delivered to the customer in another state either by common carrier or in the seller's equipment.
When a taxpayer performs unitary services covered by this section, which are performed both in intrastate and interstate commerce, the commissioner is hereby invested with authority to formulate in each particular case and to fix for such taxpayer in each instance formulae of apportionment which will apportion to this state, for taxation, that portion of the services which are performed within the State of Mississippi.
SECTION 2. Section 27-65-75, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-65-75. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, the revenue collected under the provisions of this chapter during the preceding month shall be paid and distributed as follows:
(1) On or before August 15, 1992, and each succeeding month thereafter through July 15, 1993, eighteen percent (18%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Sections 27-65-15, 27-65-19(3) and 27-65-21, on business activities within a municipal corporation shall be allocated for distribution to such municipality and paid to such municipal corporation. On or before August 15, 1993 through July 15, 2004, and each succeeding month thereafter, eighteen and one-half percent (18-1/2%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Sections 27-65-15, 27-65-19(3) and 27-65-21, on business activities within a municipal corporation shall be allocated for distribution to such municipality and paid to such municipal corporation. On or before August 15, 2004, and each succeeding month thereafter, eighteen and one-half percent (18-1/2%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Sections 27-65-15, 27-65-19(3), 27-65-21 and that collected under the provisions of 27-65-23 from the rental or lease of real property, on business activities within a municipal corporation and fifty percent (50%) of the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of Section 27-65-23 from the rental or lease of real property within a municipal corporation shall be allocated for distribution to such municipality and paid to such municipal corporation.
A municipal corporation, for the purpose of distributing the tax under this subsection, shall mean and include all incorporated cities, towns and villages.
Monies allocated for distribution and credited to a municipal corporation under this subsection may be pledged as security for any loan received by the municipal corporation for the purpose of capital improvements as authorized under Section 57-1-303, or loans as authorized under Section 57-44-7, or water systems improvements as authorized under Section 41-3-16.
In any county having a county seat which is not an incorporated municipality, the distribution provided hereunder shall be made as though the county seat was an incorporated municipality; however, the distribution to such municipality shall be paid to the county treasury wherein the municipality is located and such funds shall be used for road, bridge and street construction or maintenance therein.
(2) On or before September 15, 1987, and each succeeding month thereafter, from the revenue collected under this chapter during the preceding month One Million One Hundred Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($1,125,000.00) shall be allocated for distribution to municipal corporations as defined under subsection (1) of this section in the proportion that the number of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel sold by distributors to consumers and retailers in each such municipality during the preceding fiscal year bears to the total gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel sold by distributors to consumers and retailers in municipalities statewide during the preceding fiscal year. The State Tax Commission shall require all distributors of gasoline and diesel fuel to report to the commission monthly the total number of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel sold by them to consumers and retailers in each municipality during the preceding month. The State Tax Commission shall have the authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as is necessary to determine the number of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel sold by distributors to consumers and retailers in each municipality. In determining the percentage allocation of funds under this subsection for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1987, and ending June 30, 1988, the State Tax Commission may consider gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel sold for a period of less than one (1) fiscal year. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "fiscal year" means the fiscal year beginning July 1 of a year.
(3) On or before September 15, 1987, and on or before the fifteenth day of each succeeding month, until the date specified in Section 65-39-35, the proceeds derived from contractors' taxes levied under Section 27-65-21 on contracts for the construction or reconstruction of highways designated under the highway program created under Section 65-3-97 shall, except as otherwise provided in Section 31-17-127, be deposited into the State Treasury to the credit of the State Highway Fund to be used to fund such highway program. The Mississippi Department of Transportation shall provide to the State Tax Commission such information as is necessary to determine the amount of proceeds to be distributed under this subsection.
(4) On or before August 15, 1994, and on or before the fifteenth day of each succeeding month through July 15, 1999, from the proceeds of gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene taxes as provided in Section 27-5-101(a)(ii)1, Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000.00) shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of a special fund designated as the "State Aid Road Fund," created by Section 65-9-17. On or before August 15, 1999, and on or before the fifteenth day of each succeeding month, from the total amount of the proceeds of gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene taxes apportioned by Section 27-5-101(a)(ii)1, Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000.00) or an amount equal to twenty-three and one-fourth percent (23.25%) of such funds, whichever is the greater amount, shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the "State Aid Road Fund," created by Section 65-9-17. Such funds shall be pledged to pay the principal of and interest on state aid road bonds heretofore issued under Sections 19-9-51 through 19-9-77, in lieu of and in substitution for the funds heretofore allocated to counties under this section. Such funds may not be pledged for the payment of any state aid road bonds issued after April 1, 1981; however, this prohibition against the pledging of any such funds for the payment of bonds shall not apply to any bonds for which intent to issue such bonds has been published, for the first time, as provided by law prior to March 29, 1981. From the amount of taxes paid into the special fund pursuant to this subsection and subsection (9) of this section, there shall be first deducted and paid the amount necessary to pay the expenses of the Office of State Aid Road Construction, as authorized by the Legislature for all other general and special fund agencies. The remainder of the fund shall be allocated monthly to the several counties in accordance with the following formula:
(a) One-third (1/3) shall be allocated to all counties in equal shares;
(b) One-third (1/3) shall be allocated to counties based on the proportion that the total number of rural road miles in a county bears to the total number of rural road miles in all counties of the state; and
(c) One-third (1/3) shall be allocated to counties based on the proportion that the rural population of the county bears to the total rural population in all counties of the state, according to the latest federal decennial census.
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene taxes" means such taxes as defined in paragraph (f) of Section 27-5-101.
The amount of funds allocated to any county under this subsection for any fiscal year after fiscal year 1994 shall not be less than the amount allocated to such county for fiscal year 1994. Monies allocated to a county from the State Aid Road Fund for fiscal year 1995 or any fiscal year thereafter that exceed the amount of funds allocated to that county from the State Aid Road Fund for fiscal year 1994, first must be expended by the county for replacement or rehabilitation of bridges on the state aid road system that have a sufficiency rating of less than twenty-five (25), according to National Bridge Inspection standards before such monies may be approved for expenditure by the State Aid Road Engineer on other projects that qualify for the use of state aid road funds.
Any reference in the general laws of this state or the Mississippi Code of 1972 to Section 27-5-105 shall mean and be construed to refer and apply to subsection (4) of Section 27-65-75.
(5) One Million Six Hundred Sixty-six Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-six Dollars ($1,666,666.00) each month shall be paid into the special fund known as the "State Public School Building Fund" created and existing under the provisions of Sections 37-47-1 through 37-47-67. Such payments into said fund are to be made on the last day of each succeeding month hereafter.
(6) An amount each month beginning August 15, 1983, through November 15, 1986, as specified in Section 6 of Chapter 542, Laws of 1983, shall be paid into the special fund known as the Correctional Facilities Construction Fund created in Section 6 of Chapter 542, Laws of 1983.
(7) On or before August 15, 1992, and each succeeding month thereafter through July 15, 2000, two and two hundred sixty-six one-thousandths percent (2.266%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Section 27-65-17(2) shall be deposited by the commission into the School Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund created pursuant to Section 37-61-35. On or before August 15, 2000, and each succeeding month thereafter, two and two hundred sixty-six one-thousandths percent (2.266%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Section 27-65-17(2), shall be deposited into the School Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund created under Section 37-61-35 until such time that the total amount deposited into the fund during a fiscal year equals Forty-two Million Dollars ($42,000,000.00). Thereafter, the amounts diverted under this subsection (7) during the fiscal year in excess of Forty-two Million Dollars ($42,000,000.00) shall be deposited into the Education Enhancement Fund created under Section 37-61-33 for appropriation by the Legislature as other education needs and shall not be subject to the percentage appropriation requirements set forth in Section 37-61-33.
(8) On or before August 15, 1992, and each succeeding month thereafter, nine and seventy-three one-thousandths percent (9.073%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, except that collected under the provisions of Section 27-65-17(2) shall be deposited into the Education Enhancement Fund created pursuant to Section 37-61-33.
(9) On or before August 15, 1994, and each succeeding month thereafter, from the revenue collected under this chapter during the preceding month, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) shall be paid into the State Aid Road Fund.
(10) On or before August 15, 1994, and each succeeding month thereafter through August 15, 1995, from the revenue collected under this chapter during the preceding month, Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00) shall be deposited into the Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund established in Section 27-51-105.
(11) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, on or before February 15, 1995, and each succeeding month thereafter, the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of Section 27-65-17(2) and the corresponding levy in Section 27-65-23 on the rental or lease of private carriers of passengers and light carriers of property as defined in Section 27-51-101 shall be deposited, without diversion, into the Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund established in Section 27-51-105.
(12) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, on or before August 15, 1995, and each succeeding month thereafter, the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of Section 27-65-17(1) on retail sales of private carriers of passengers and light carriers of property, as defined in Section 27-51-101 and the corresponding levy in Section 27-65-23 on the rental or lease of these vehicles, shall be deposited, after diversion, into the Motor Vehicle Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund established in Section 27-51-105.
(13) On or before July 15, 1994, and on or before the fifteenth day of each succeeding month thereafter, that portion of the avails of the tax imposed in Section 27-65-22, which is derived from activities held on the Mississippi state fairgrounds complex, shall be paid into a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury and shall be expended pursuant to legislative appropriations solely to defray the costs of repairs and renovation at such Trade Mart and Coliseum.
(14) On or before August 15, 1998, and each succeeding month thereafter through July 15, 2005, that portion of the avails of the tax imposed in Section 27-65-23 which is derived from sales by cotton compresses or cotton warehouses and which would otherwise be paid into the General Fund, shall be deposited in an amount not to exceed Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000.00) into the special fund created pursuant to Section 69-37-39.
(15) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, on or before September 15, 2000, and each succeeding month thereafter, the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of Section 27-65-19(1)(f) and (g)(i)2, shall be deposited, without diversion, into the Telecommunications Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund established in Section 27-38-7.
(16) On or before August 15, 2000, and each succeeding month thereafter, the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter on the gross proceeds of sales of a project as defined in Section 57-30-1 shall be deposited, after all diversions except the diversion provided for in subsection (1) of this section, into the Sales Tax Incentive Fund created in Section 57-30-3.
(17) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, on or before April 15, 2002, and each succeeding month thereafter, the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under Section 27-65-23 on sales of parking services of parking garages and lots at airports shall be deposited, without diversion, into the special fund created pursuant to Section 27-5-101(d).
(18) On or before August 15, 2004, and each succeeding month thereafter through July 15, 2005, from the sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of this chapter, Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000.00) shall be deposited into the Special Funds Transfer Fund created in Section 4 of Chapter 556, Laws of 2003.
(19) On or before August 15, 2004, and each succeeding month thereafter, twenty-five percent (25%) of the total sales tax revenue collected during the preceding month under the provisions of Section 27-65-23 from the rental or lease of real property within a county, regardless of whether inside or outside any municipal corporation, shall be allocated for distribution to such county and paid to such county. The amount paid to any county under this subsection (19) shall be in addition to any other funds allocated for distribution to the various counties under this section.
(20) The remainder of the amounts collected under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund.
(21) It shall be the duty of the municipal officials of any municipality which expands its limits, or of any community which incorporates as a municipality, to notify the commissioner of such action thirty (30) days before the effective date. Failure to so notify the commissioner shall cause such municipality to forfeit the revenue which it would have been entitled to receive during this period of time when the commissioner had no knowledge of the action. If any funds have been erroneously disbursed to any municipality or county or any overpayment of tax is recovered by the taxpayer, the commissioner may make correction and adjust the error or overpayment with such municipality or county by withholding the necessary funds from any subsequent payment to be made to the municipality or county.
SECTION 3. Section 27-65-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-65-53. If the commissioner finds that the taxpayer has overpaid his tax for any reason and the taxpayer has discontinued business and there is no subsequent liability upon which the excess may be credited, or if the amount of the excess so paid shall exceed the estimated liability for the next twelve (12) months, the excess shall be refunded to the taxpayer. Such amount shall be certified to the State Auditor of Public Accounts by the commission. The said auditor is hereby authorized to make such investigation and audit of the claim as he finds necessary. If he finds that the commissioner is correct in his determination, the auditor may issue his warrant to the State Treasurer in favor of the taxpayer for the amount of tax erroneously paid into the State Treasury, such refunds to be made from current sales tax collections. If part of the overpayment has been disbursed to any municipality or county, under authority of Section 27-65-75, the municipality or county, having erroneously received the money, shall adjust the amount with the commissioner, or the overpayment may be withheld by the state from any funds due by the state to the municipality or county.
Provided, that where the taxpayer has overpaid his tax, the commissioner may give credit for same and allow the taxpayer to take credit on a subsequent return or, if necessary, in his discretion, have the taxpayer file for a refund as provided herein.
If any overpayment of tax as reflected in an application or amended return, or both, filed by the taxpayer, and verified by the commissioner or otherwise determined to be due by the commissioner or commission, is not refunded or credited to a taxpayer's account within ninety (90) days after the application or amended return is filed or the date the commission or commissioner determines a refund is due, whichever is later, interest at the rate of one percent (1%) per month shall be allowed on such overpayment computed for the period after expiration of the ninety-day period provided herein to the date of payment.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.