LB676 LB676
2019 2019
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 676
Introduced by Groene, 42.
Read first time January 23, 2019
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to school districts; to amend sections
2 77-27,119, 79-421, 79-432, 79-433, 79-435, 79-436, 79-439, 79-441,
3 79-442, 79-444, 79-445, 79-446, 79-448, 79-449, 79-450, 79-480,
4 79-613, 79-848, 79-1074, 79-10,119, and 79-1605, Reissue Revised
5 Statutes of Nebraska, and sections 79-413, 79-443, 79-447, 79-451,
6 79-479, 79-499, 79-4,119, 79-611, 79-850, 79-1003, 79-1007.11,
7 79-1065.02, 79-1075, and 79-10,145, Revised Statutes Cumulative
8 Supplement, 2018; to change provisions and terminology relating to
9 school districts and the reorganization of school districts as
10 prescribed; to change the membership and provisions relating to the
11 State Committee for the Reorganization of School Districts; to
12 define and redefine terms; to change terminology relating to student
13 transportation; to eliminate obsolete provisions relating to the Tax
14 Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act; to eliminate
15 provisions relating to the reorganization of school districts,
16 depopulated school districts, and contracting for instruction as
17 prescribed; to harmonize provisions; to repeal the original
18 sections; and to outright repeal sections 79-414, 79-422, 79-471,
19 and 79-498, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and sections
20 79-415, 79-418, 79-419, 79-420, 79-434, 79-470, and 79-598, Revised
21 Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2018.
22 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 77-27,119, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska,
2 is amended to read:
3 77-27,119 (1) The Tax Commissioner shall administer and enforce the
4 income tax imposed by sections 77-2714 to 77-27,135, and he or she is
5 authorized to conduct hearings, to adopt and promulgate such rules and
6 regulations, and to require such facts and information to be reported as
7 he or she may deem necessary to enforce the income tax provisions of such
8 sections, except that such rules, regulations, and reports shall not be
9 inconsistent with the laws of this state or the laws of the United
10 States. The Tax Commissioner may for enforcement and administrative
11 purposes divide the state into a reasonable number of districts in which
12 branch offices may be maintained.
13 (2)(a) The Tax Commissioner may prescribe the form and contents of
14 any return or other document required to be filed under the income tax
15 provisions. Such return or other document shall be compatible as to form
16 and content with the return or document required by the laws of the
17 United States. The form shall have a place where the taxpayer shall
18 designate the high school district in which he or she lives and the
19 county in which the high school district is headquartered. The Tax
20 Commissioner shall adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may
21 be necessary to insure compliance with this requirement.
22 (b) The State Department of Education, with the assistance and
23 cooperation of the Department of Revenue, shall develop a uniform system
24 for numbering all school districts in the state. Such system shall be
25 consistent with the data processing needs of the Department of Revenue
26 and shall be used for the school district identification required by
27 subdivision (a) of this subsection.
28 (c) The proper filing of an income tax return shall consist of the
29 submission of such form as prescribed by the Tax Commissioner or an exact
30 facsimile thereof with sufficient information provided by the taxpayer on
31 the face of the form from which to compute the actual tax liability. Each
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1 taxpayer shall include such taxpayer's correct social security number or
2 state identification number and the school district identification number
3 of the school district in which the taxpayer resides on the face of the
4 form. A filing is deemed to occur when the required information is
5 provided.
6 (3) The Tax Commissioner, for the purpose of ascertaining the
7 correctness of any return or other document required to be filed under
8 the income tax provisions, for the purpose of determining corporate
9 income, individual income, and withholding tax due, or for the purpose of
10 making an estimate of taxable income of any person, shall have the power
11 to examine or to cause to have examined, by any agent or representative
12 designated by him or her for that purpose, any books, papers, records, or
13 memoranda bearing upon such matters and may by summons require the
14 attendance of the person responsible for rendering such return or other
15 document or remitting any tax, or any officer or employee of such person,
16 or the attendance of any other person having knowledge in the premises,
17 and may take testimony and require proof material for his or her
18 information, with power to administer oaths or affirmations to such
19 person or persons.
20 (4) The time and place of examination pursuant to this section shall
21 be such time and place as may be fixed by the Tax Commissioner and as are
22 reasonable under the circumstances. In the case of a summons, the date
23 fixed for appearance before the Tax Commissioner shall not be less than
24 twenty days from the time of service of the summons.
25 (5) No taxpayer shall be subjected to unreasonable or unnecessary
26 examinations or investigations.
27 (6) Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise
28 provided by law, it shall be unlawful for the Tax Commissioner, any
29 officer or employee of the Tax Commissioner, any person engaged or
30 retained by the Tax Commissioner on an independent contract basis, any
31 person who pursuant to this section is permitted to inspect any report or
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1 return or to whom a copy, an abstract, or a portion of any report or
2 return is furnished, any employee of the State Treasurer or the
3 Department of Administrative Services, or any other person to divulge,
4 make known, or use in any manner the amount of income or any particulars
5 set forth or disclosed in any report or return required except for the
6 purpose of enforcing sections 77-2714 to 77-27,135. The officers charged
7 with the custody of such reports and returns shall not be required to
8 produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in them in any
9 action or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the Tax
10 Commissioner in an action or proceeding under the provisions of the tax
11 law to which he or she is a party or on behalf of any party to any action
12 or proceeding under such sections when the reports or facts shown thereby
13 are directly involved in such action or proceeding, in either of which
14 events the court may require the production of, and may admit in
15 evidence, so much of such reports or of the facts shown thereby as are
16 pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing in this
17 section shall be construed (a) to prohibit the delivery to a taxpayer,
18 his or her duly authorized representative, or his or her successors,
19 receivers, trustees, personal representatives, administrators, assignees,
20 or guarantors, if directly interested, of a certified copy of any return
21 or report in connection with his or her tax, (b) to prohibit the
22 publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification
23 of particular reports or returns and the items thereof, (c) to prohibit
24 the inspection by the Attorney General, other legal representatives of
25 the state, or a county attorney of the report or return of any taxpayer
26 who brings an action to review the tax based thereon, against whom an
27 action or proceeding for collection of tax has been instituted, or
28 against whom an action, proceeding, or prosecution for failure to comply
29 with the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967 is being considered or has been
30 commenced, (d) to prohibit furnishing to the Nebraska Workers'
31 Compensation Court the names, addresses, and identification numbers of
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1 employers, and such information shall be furnished on request of the
2 court, (e) to prohibit the disclosure of information and records to a
3 collection agency contracting with the Tax Commissioner pursuant to
4 sections 77-377.01 to 77-377.04, (f) to prohibit the disclosure of
5 information pursuant to section 77-27,195, 77-4110, or 77-5731, (g) to
6 prohibit the disclosure to the Public Employees Retirement Board of the
7 addresses of individuals who are members of the retirement systems
8 administered by the board, and such information shall be furnished to the
9 board solely for purposes of its administration of the retirement systems
10 upon written request, which request shall include the name and social
11 security number of each individual for whom an address is requested, (h)
12 to prohibit the disclosure of information to the Department of Labor
13 necessary for the administration of the Employment Security Law, the
14 Contractor Registration Act, or the Employee Classification Act, (i) to
15 prohibit the disclosure to the Department of Motor Vehicles of tax return
16 information pertaining to individuals, corporations, and businesses
17 determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles to be delinquent in the
18 payment of amounts due under agreements pursuant to the International
19 Fuel Tax Agreement Act, and such disclosure shall be strictly limited to
20 information necessary for the administration of the act, (j) to prohibit
21 the disclosure under section 42-358.08, 43-512.06, or 43-3327 to any
22 court-appointed individuals, the county attorney, any authorized
23 attorney, or the Department of Health and Human Services of an absent
24 parent's address, social security number, amount of income, health
25 insurance information, and employer's name and address for the exclusive
26 purpose of establishing and collecting child, spousal, or medical
27 support, (k) to prohibit the disclosure of information to the Department
28 of Insurance, the Nebraska State Historical Society, or the State
29 Historic Preservation Officer as necessary to carry out the Department of
30 Revenue's responsibilities under the Nebraska Job Creation and Mainstreet
31 Revitalization Act, or (l) to prohibit the disclosure to the Department
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1 of Insurance of information pertaining to authorization for, and use of,
2 tax credits under the New Markets Job Growth Investment Act. Information
3 so obtained shall be used for no other purpose. Any person who violates
4 this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and shall upon conviction
5 thereof be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five
6 hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not more than five years, or be both so
7 fined and imprisoned, in the discretion of the court and shall be
8 assessed the costs of prosecution. If the offender is an officer or
9 employee of the state, he or she shall be dismissed from office and be
10 ineligible to hold any public office in this state for a period of two
11 years thereafter.
12 (7) Reports and returns required to be filed under income tax
13 provisions of sections 77-2714 to 77-27,135 shall be preserved until the
14 Tax Commissioner orders them to be destroyed.
15 (8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (6) of this
16 section, the Tax Commissioner may permit the Secretary of the Treasury of
17 the United States or his or her delegates or the proper officer of any
18 state imposing an income tax, or the authorized representative of either
19 such officer, to inspect the income tax returns of any taxpayer or may
20 furnish to such officer or his or her authorized representative an
21 abstract of the return of income of any taxpayer or supply him or her
22 with information concerning an item of income contained in any return or
23 disclosed by the report of any investigation of the income or return of
24 income of any taxpayer, but such permission shall be granted only if the
25 statutes of the United States or of such other state, as the case may be,
26 grant substantially similar privileges to the Tax Commissioner of this
27 state as the officer charged with the administration of the income tax
28 imposed by sections 77-2714 to 77-27,135.
29 (9) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (6) of this
30 section, the Tax Commissioner may permit the Postal Inspector of the
31 United States Postal Service or his or her delegates to inspect the
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1 reports or returns of any person filed pursuant to the Nebraska Revenue
2 Act of 1967 when information on the reports or returns is relevant to any
3 action or proceeding instituted or being considered by the United States
4 Postal Service against such person for the fraudulent use of the mails to
5 carry and deliver false and fraudulent tax returns to the Tax
6 Commissioner with the intent to defraud the State of Nebraska or to evade
7 the payment of Nebraska state taxes.
8 (10)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (6) of this
9 section, the Tax Commissioner shall, upon written request by the Auditor
10 of Public Accounts or the office of Legislative Audit, make tax returns
11 and tax return information open to inspection by or disclosure to
12 officers and employees of the Auditor of Public Accounts or employees of
13 the office of Legislative Audit for the purpose of and to the extent
14 necessary in making an audit of the Department of Revenue pursuant to
15 section 50-1205 or 84-304. The Auditor of Public Accounts or office of
16 Legislative Audit shall statistically and randomly select the tax returns
17 and tax return information to be audited based upon a computer file tape
18 provided by the Department of Revenue which contains only total
19 population documents without specific identification of taxpayers. The
20 Tax Commissioner shall have the authority to approve the statistical
21 sampling method used by the Auditor of Public Accounts or office of
22 Legislative Audit. Confidential tax returns and tax return information
23 shall be audited only upon the premises of the Department of Revenue. All
24 audit workpapers pertaining to the audit of the Department of Revenue
25 shall be stored in a secure place in the Department of Revenue.
26 (b) When selecting tax returns or tax return information for a
27 performance audit of a tax incentive program, the office of Legislative
28 Audit shall select the tax returns or tax return information for either
29 all or a statistically and randomly selected sample of taxpayers who have
30 applied for or who have qualified for benefits under the tax incentive
31 program that is the subject of the audit. When the office of Legislative