Texas Tax Code - Section 23.125. Prepayment Of Taxes By Certain Taxpayers
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Texas Laws > Tax Code > Texas Tax Code - Section 23.125. Prepayment Of Taxes By Certain Taxpayers
§ 23.125. PREPAYMENT OF TAXES BY CERTAIN TAXPAYERS. (a)
in this section:
(1) "Aggregate tax rate" means the combined tax rates
of all relevant taxing units authorized by law to levy property
taxes against a dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory.
(2) "Chief appraiser" has the meaning given it in
Section 23.124 of this code.
(3) "Collector" has the meaning given it in Section
23.124 of this code.
(4) "Dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory" has
the meaning given it in Section 23.124 of this code.
(5) "Declaration" has the meaning given it in Section
23.124 of this code.
(6) "Owner" has the meaning given it in Section 23.124
of this code.
(7) "Relevant taxing unit" means a taxing unit,
including the county, authorized by law to levy property taxes
against a dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory.
(8) "Sales price" has the meaning given it in Section
23.124 of this code.
(9) "Statement" means the dealer's vessel and outboard
motor inventory tax statement filed on a form promulgated by the
comptroller as required by this section.
(10) "Subsequent sale" has the meaning given it in
Section 23.124 of this code.
(11) "Total annual sales" has the meaning given it in
Section 23.124 of this code.
(12) "Unit property tax factor" means a number equal
to one-twelfth of the prior year aggregate tax rate at the location
where a dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory is located on
January 1 of the current year.
(b) Except for a vessel or outboard motor sold to a dealer, a
vessel or outboard motor included in a fleet transaction, or a
vessel or outboard motor that is the subject of a subsequent sale,
an owner or a person who has agreed by contract to pay the owner's
current year property taxes levied against the owner's vessel and
outboard motor inventory shall assign a unit property tax to each
vessel and outboard motor sold from a dealer's vessel and outboard
motor inventory. The unit property tax of each vessel or outboard
motor is determined by multiplying the sales price of the vessel or
outboard motor by the unit property tax factor. On or before the
10th day of each month the owner shall, together with the statement
filed by the owner as provided by this section, deposit with the
collector a sum equal to the total of unit property tax assigned to
all vessels and outboard motors sold from the dealer's vessel and
outboard motor inventory in the prior month to which a unit property
tax was assigned. The money shall be deposited by the collector in
or otherwise credited by the collector to the owner's escrow
account for prepayment of property taxes as provided by this
section. An escrow account required by this section is used to pay
property taxes levied against the dealer's vessel and outboard
motor inventory, and the owner shall fund the escrow account as
provided by this subsection.
(c) The collector shall maintain the escrow account for each
owner in the county depository. The collector is not required to
maintain a separate account in the depository for each escrow
account created as provided by this section but shall maintain
separate records for each owner. The collector shall retain any
interest generated by the escrow account to defray the cost of
administration of the prepayment procedure established by this
section. Interest generated by an escrow account created as
provided by this section is the sole property of the collector, and
that interest may be used by no entity other than the collector.
Interest generated by an escrow account may not be used to reduce or
otherwise affect the annual appropriation to the collector that
would otherwise be made.
(d) The owner may not withdraw funds in an escrow account
created pursuant to this section.
(e) The comptroller shall promulgate a form entitled
"Dealer's Vessel and Outboard Motor Inventory Tax Statement." A
dealer shall complete the form with respect to each vessel and
outboard motor sold. A dealer may use no other form for that
purpose. The statement may include the information the comptroller
deems appropriate but shall include at least the following:
(1) a description of the vessel or outboard motor
sold;
(2) the sales price of the vessel or outboard motor;
(3) the unit property tax of the vessel or outboard
motor, if any; and
(4) the reason no unit property tax is assigned if no
unit property tax is assigned.
(f) On or before the 10th day of each month a dealer shall
file with the collector the statement covering the sale of each
vessel or outboard motor sold by the dealer in the prior month. A
dealer shall file a copy of the statement with the chief appraiser
and retain documentation relating to the disposition of each vessel
and outboard motor sold. A chief appraiser or collector may examine
documents held by a dealer as provided by this subsection in the
same manner, and subject to the same provisions, as are set forth in
Section 23.124(g) of this code.
(g) Except as provided by this subsection, the requirements
of Subsection (f) of this section apply to all dealers, without
regard to whether or not the dealer owes vessel and outboard motor
inventory tax for the current year. A dealer who owes no vessel and
outboard motor inventory tax for the current year because he was not
in business on January 1:
(1) shall file the statement required by this section
showing the information required by this section for each month
during which the dealer is in business; and
(2) may neither assign a unit property tax to a vessel
or outboard motor sold by the dealer nor remit money with the
statement unless pursuant to the terms of a contract as provided by
Subsection (l) of this section.
(h) A collector may establish a procedure, voluntary or
mandatory, by which the unit property tax of a vessel or outboard
motor is paid and deposited into an owner's escrow account at the
time of processing the transfer of title to the vessel or outboard
motor.
(i) A relevant taxing unit shall, on its tax bill prepared
for the owner of a dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory,
separately itemize the taxes levied against the dealer's vessel and
outboard motor inventory. When the tax bill is prepared by a
relevant taxing unit for a dealer's vessel and outboard motor
inventory, the assessor for the relevant taxing unit, or an entity,
if any, other than the collector, that collects taxes on behalf of
the taxing unit, shall provide the collector a true and correct copy
of the tax bill sent to the owner, including taxes levied against a
dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory. The collector shall
apply the money in the owner's escrow account to the taxes imposed
and deliver a tax receipt to the owner. The collector shall apply
the amount to each relevant taxing unit in proportion to the amount
of taxes levied, and the assessor of each relevant taxing unit shall
apply the funds received from the collector to the taxes owed by the
owner.
(j) If the amount in the escrow account is not sufficient to
pay the taxes in full, the collector shall apply the money to the
taxes and deliver to the owner a tax receipt for the partial payment
and a tax bill for the amount of the deficiency together with a
statement that the owner must remit to the collector the balance of
the total tax due.
(k) The collector shall remit to each relevant taxing unit
the total amount collected by the collector in deficiency payments.
The assessor of each relevant taxing unit shall apply those funds to
the taxes owed by the owner. Taxes that are due but not received by
the collector on or before January 31 are delinquent. Not later
than February 15, the collector shall distribute to relevant taxing
units in the manner set forth in this section all funds collected
pursuant to the authority of this section and held in escrow by the
collector as provided by this section. This section does not impose
a duty on a collector to collect delinquent taxes that the collector
is not otherwise obligated by law or contract to collect.
(l) A person who acquires the business or assets of an owner
may, by contract, agree to pay the current year vessel and outboard
motor inventory taxes owed by the owner. The owner who owes the
current year tax and the person who acquires the business or assets
of the owner shall jointly notify the chief appraiser and the
collector of the terms of the agreement and of the fact that the
other person has agreed to pay the current year vessel and outboard
motor inventory taxes owed by the dealer. The chief appraiser and
the collector shall adjust their records accordingly.
Notwithstanding the terms of Section 23.124 of this code, a person
who agrees to pay current year vessel and outboard motor inventory
taxes as provided by this subsection is not required to file a
declaration until the year following the acquisition. This
subsection does not relieve the selling owner of the tax liability.
(m) A dealer who fails to file a statement as required by
this section commits an offense. An offense under this subsection
is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $100. Each day
during which a dealer fails to comply with the terms of this
subsection is a separate violation.
(n) In addition to other penalties provided by law, a dealer
who fails to file a statement as required by this section shall
forfeit a penalty. A tax lien attaches to the owner's business
personal property to secure payment of the penalty. The
appropriate district attorney, criminal district attorney, or
county attorney shall collect the penalty established by this
section in the name of the chief appraiser or collector. Venue of
an action brought under this subsection is in the county in which
the violation occurred or in the county in which the owner maintains
his principal place of business or residence. A penalty forfeited
under this subsection is $500 for each month or part of a month in
which a statement is not filed after it is due.
(o) An owner who fails to remit unit property taxes due as
required by this section shall pay a penalty of five percent of the
amount due. If the amount is not paid within 10 days after the due
date, the owner shall pay an additional penalty of five percent of
the amount due. Notwithstanding the terms of this section, unit
property taxes paid on or before January 31 of the year following
the date on which they are due are not delinquent. The collector,
the collector's designated agent, or the county or district
attorney shall enforce the terms of this subsection. A penalty
under this subsection is in addition to any other penalty provided
by law if the owner's taxes are delinquent.
(p) Fines and penalties collected pursuant to the authority
of this section shall be deposited in the county depository to the
credit of the general fund.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 836, § 4, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.
Renumbered from V.T.C.A., Tax Code § 23.12E by Acts 1997, 75th
Leg., ch. 165, § 31.01(73), eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Section: 23.12 23.121 23.122 23.123 23.124 23.1241 23.1242 23.125 23.126 23.127 23.128 23.13 23.135 23.14 23.15
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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