House Bill 714 aims to amend Tennessee's sales and use tax regulations by establishing a new remittance schedule for sales tax collected by merchants. The bill recognizes that merchants incur transaction fees on sales tax associated with card transactions and seeks to alleviate this burden by allowing them to retain sales tax payments for a specified period. This holding time will enable merchants to reasonably recoup the transaction costs before remitting the sales tax to the state. The schedule will be developed by the commissioner in consultation with the state treasurer, taking into account various factors such as the state's total sales tax remittance from the previous year and the percentage of transactions conducted via credit and debit cards.

Additionally, the bill mandates that the commissioner monitor the holding time on a biannual basis to ensure its appropriateness. Importantly, the legislation does not require any changes to the current processes or forms used by the department for collecting and remitting sales tax, aside from the establishment of this extended timeframe for remittance. The act is set to take effect upon becoming law, emphasizing the need for fairness in the financial responsibilities of merchants in relation to sales tax collection.