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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 314
Introduced by Briese, 41; Friesen, 34.
Read first time January 16, 2019
Committee: Revenue
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to revenue and taxation; to amend sections
2 76-901, 76-903, 77-202, 77-382, 77-693, 77-801, 77-1116, 77-1238,
3 77-1248, 77-1327, 77-2602, 77-2701, 77-2701.02, 77-2701.16,
4 77-2704.24, 77-2715, 77-2715.07, 77-2715.09, 77-2716, 77-2716.01,
5 77-2717, 77-2734.01, 77-27,132, 77-4001, 77-4002, 77-4007, 77-4025,
6 79-1142, 79-1145, 81-3706, and 81-3722, Reissue Revised Statutes of
7 Nebraska, and sections 44-1095, 53-160, 53-187, 79-1005.01, and
8 79-1144, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2018; to adopt the
9 Remote Seller Sales Tax Collection Act; to remove a property tax
10 exemption for fraternal benefit societies; to increase taxes on
11 alcohol; to increase the documentary stamp tax and the cigarette
12 tax; to provide sunset dates for the Personal Property Tax Relief
13 Act and the New Markets Job Growth Investment Act; to impose a
14 surtax on certain individuals; to increase the sales tax rate; to
15 impose sales and use taxes on certain services; to eliminate certain
16 sales and use tax exemptions; to change provisions relating to the
17 alternative minimum tax, the earned income tax credit, the tax on
18 certain extraordinary dividends and capital gains, the tax on
19 certain small business corporation and limited liability company
20 income, and itemized deductions; to provide an income tax credit for
21 certain renters; to change the distribution of certain revenue; to
22 tax vapor products under the Tobacco Products Tax Act; to change
23 provisions relating to allocated income tax funds and special
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1 education; to create the School Financing Review Commission and
2 provide duties; to change provisions of the Nebraska Visitors
3 Development Act; to harmonize provisions; to provide operative
4 dates; to repeal the original sections; to outright repeal sections
5 77-2704.65 and 77-2704.67, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska; and
6 to declare an emergency.
7 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Sections 1 to 5 of this act shall be known and may be
2 cited as the Remote Seller Sales Tax Collection Act.
3 Sec. 2. For purposes of the Remote Seller Sales Tax Collection Act:
4 (1) Department means the Department of Revenue;
5 (2) Property has the same meaning as in section 77-2701.27; and
6 (3) Remote seller means any person who:
7 (a) Sells property for delivery into this state; and
8 (b) Does not have a physical presence in this state.
9 Sec. 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a remote seller
10 shall be subject to the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967, shall remit the
11 sales tax due under such act, and shall follow all applicable procedures
12 and requirements of law as if the remote seller had a physical presence
13 in this state if the remote seller meets either of the following criteria
14 in the previous or current calendar year:
15 (1) The remote seller's gross revenue from the sale of property
16 delivered into Nebraska exceeds one hundred thousand dollars; or
17 (2) The remote seller sold property for delivery into Nebraska in
18 two hundred or more separate transactions.
19 Sec. 4. Nothing in the Remote Seller Sales Tax Collection Act
20 affects the obligation of any purchaser from this state to remit use tax
21 as to any applicable transaction in which the remote seller does not
22 collect and remit an offsetting sales tax.
23 Sec. 5. The department may adopt and promulgate rules and
24 regulations to carry out the Remote Seller Sales Tax Collection Act.
25 Sec. 6. Section 44-1095, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
26 2018, is amended to read:
27 44-1095 Every society organized or licensed under sections 44-1072
28 to 44-10,109 shall be a charitable and benevolent institution, and all of
29 its funds and property shall be exempt from all and every state, county,
30 district, municipal, and school tax other than taxes on real estate and
31 office equipment.
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1 Sec. 7. Section 53-160, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2018, is amended to read:
3 53-160 (1) For the purpose of raising revenue, a tax is imposed upon
4 the privilege of engaging in business as a manufacturer or a wholesaler
5 at a rate of one dollar and thirty-eight thirty-one cents per gallon on
6 all beer; three dollars and fifty-one ninety-five cents per gallon for
7 wine, except for wines produced and released from bond in farm wineries;
8 two dollars and sixty-two six cents per gallon for wine produced and
9 released from bond in farm wineries; and twelve three dollars and twenty-
10 eight seventy-five cents per gallon on alcohol and spirits manufactured
11 and sold by such manufacturer or shipped for sale in this state by such
12 wholesaler in the course of such business. The gallonage tax imposed by
13 this subsection shall be imposed only on alcoholic liquor upon which a
14 federal excise tax is imposed.
15 (2) Manufacturers or wholesalers of alcoholic liquor shall be exempt
16 from the payment of the gallonage tax on such alcoholic liquor upon
17 satisfactory proof, including bills of lading furnished to the commission
18 by affidavit or otherwise as the commission may require, that such
19 alcoholic liquor was manufactured in this state but shipped out of the
20 state for sale and consumption outside this state.
21 (3) Dry wines or fortified wines manufactured or shipped into this
22 state solely and exclusively for sacramental purposes and uses shall not
23 be subject to the gallonage tax.
24 (4) The gallonage tax shall not be imposed upon any alcoholic
25 liquor, whether manufactured in or shipped into this state, when sold to
26 a licensed nonbeverage user for use in the manufacture of any of the
27 following when such products are unfit for beverage purposes: Patent and
28 proprietary medicines and medicinal, antiseptic, and toilet preparations;
29 flavoring extracts, syrups, food products, and confections or candy;
30 scientific, industrial, and chemical products, except denatured alcohol;
31 or products for scientific, chemical, experimental, or mechanical
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1 purposes.
2 (5) The gallonage tax shall not be imposed upon the privilege of
3 engaging in any business in interstate commerce or otherwise, which
4 business may not, under the Constitution and statutes of the United
5 States, be made the subject of taxation by this state.
6 (6) The gallonage tax shall be in addition to all other occupation
7 or privilege taxes imposed by this state or by any municipal corporation
8 or political subdivision thereof.
9 (7) The commission shall collect the gallonage tax and shall account
10 for and remit to the State Treasurer at least once each week all money
11 collected pursuant to this section. If any alcoholic liquor manufactured
12 in or shipped into this state is sold to a licensed manufacturer or
13 wholesaler of this state to be used solely as an ingredient in the
14 manufacture of any beverage for human consumption, the tax imposed upon
15 such manufacturer or wholesaler shall be reduced by the amount of the
16 taxes which have been paid as to such alcoholic liquor so used under the
17 Nebraska Liquor Control Act. The net proceeds of all revenue arising
18 under this section shall be credited to the General Fund, except that the
19 increase in revenue due to the changes in tax rates made by this
20 legislative bill shall be credited to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.
21 Sec. 8. Section 53-187, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
22 2018, is amended to read:
23 53-187 No nonbeverage user shall sell, give away, or otherwise
24 dispose of any alcoholic liquor, purchased under his or her license as
25 such nonbeverage user, in any form fit for beverage purposes. Any
26 nonbeverage user who violates this section shall pay to the commission,
27 for the use of the General Fund, the sum of twelve three dollars and
28 twenty-eight seventy-five cents for each gallon of alcoholic liquor so
29 diverted, and in addition thereto shall be subject to the penalties
30 provided in section 53-1,100.
31 Sec. 9. Section 76-901, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
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1 amended to read:
2 76-901 There is hereby imposed a tax on the grantor executing the
3 deed as defined in section 76-203 upon the transfer of a beneficial
4 interest in or legal title to real estate at the rate of two dollars and
5 seventy-five twenty-five cents for each one thousand dollars value or
6 fraction thereof. For purposes of sections 76-901 to 76-908, value means
7 (1) in the case of any deed, not a gift, the amount of the full actual
8 consideration thereof, paid or to be paid, including the amount of any
9 lien or liens assumed, and (2) in the case of a gift or any deed with
10 nominal consideration or without stated consideration, the current market
11 value of the property transferred. Such tax shall be evidenced by stamps
12 to be attached to the deed. All deeds purporting to transfer legal title
13 or beneficial interest shall be presumed taxable unless it clearly
14 appears on the face of the deed or sufficient documentary proof is
15 presented to the register of deeds that the instrument is exempt under
16 section 76-902.
17 Sec. 10. Section 76-903, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
18 amended to read:
19 76-903 The Tax Commissioner shall design such stamps in such
20 denominations as in his or her judgment will be the most advantageous to
21 all persons concerned. When any deed subject to the tax imposed by
22 section 76-901 is offered for recordation, the register of deeds shall
23 ascertain and compute the amount of the tax due thereon and shall collect
24 such amount as a prerequisite to acceptance of the deed for recordation.
25 If a dispute arises concerning the taxability of the transfer, the
26 register of deeds shall not record the deed until the disputed tax is
27 paid. If a disputed tax has been paid, the taxpayer may file for a refund
28 pursuant to section 76-908. The taxpayer may also seek a declaratory
29 ruling pursuant to rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the
30 Department of Revenue. From each two dollars and seventy-five twenty-five
31 cents of tax collected pursuant to section 76-901, the register of deeds
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1 shall retain fifty cents to be placed in the county general fund and
2 shall remit the balance to the State Treasurer who shall credit ninety-
3 five cents of such amount to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, twenty-
4 five cents of such amount to the Site and Building Development Fund,
5 twenty-five cents of such amount to the Homeless Shelter Assistance Trust
6 Fund, and thirty cents of such amount to the Behavioral Health Services
7 Fund, and fifty cents of such amount to the Property Tax Credit Cash
8 Fund.
9 Sec. 11. Section 77-202, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
10 amended to read:
11 77-202 (1) The following property shall be exempt from property
12 taxes:
13 (a) Property of the state and its governmental subdivisions to the
14 extent used or being developed for use by the state or governmental
15 subdivision for a public purpose. For purposes of this subdivision:
16 (i) Property of the state and its governmental subdivisions means
17 (A) property held in fee title by the state or a governmental subdivision
18 or (B) property beneficially owned by the state or a governmental
19 subdivision in that it is used for a public purpose and is being acquired
20 under a lease-purchase agreement, financing lease, or other instrument
21 which provides for transfer of legal title to the property to the state
22 or a governmental subdivision upon payment of all amounts due thereunder.
23 If the property to be beneficially owned by a governmental subdivision
24 has a total acquisition cost that exceeds the threshold amount or will be
25 used as the site of a public building with a total estimated construction
26 cost that exceeds the threshold amount, then such property shall qualify
27 for an exemption under this section only if the question of acquiring
28 such property or constructing such public building has been submitted at
29 a primary, general, or special election held within the governmental
30 subdivision and has been approved by the voters of the governmental
31 subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, threshold amount means the
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1 greater of fifty thousand dollars or six-tenths of one percent of the
2 total actual value of real and personal property of the governmental
3 subdivision that will beneficially own the property as of the end of the
4 governmental subdivision's prior fiscal year; and
5 (ii) Public purpose means use of the property (A) to provide public
6 services with or without cost to the recipient, including the general
7 operation of government, public education, public safety, transportation,
8 public works, civil and criminal justice, public health and welfare,
9 developments by a public housing authority, parks, culture, recreation,
10 community development, and cemetery purposes, or (B) to carry out the
11 duties and responsibilities conferred by law with or without
12 consideration. Public purpose does not include leasing of property to a
13 private party unless the lease of the property is at fair market value
14 for a public purpose. Leases of property by a public housing authority to
15 low-income individuals as a place of residence are for the authority's
16 public purpose;
17 (b) Unleased property of the state or its governmental subdivisions
18 which is not being used or developed for use for a public purpose but
19 upon which a payment in lieu of taxes is paid for public safety, rescue,
20 and emergency services and road or street construction or maintenance
21 services to all governmental units providing such services to the
22 property. Except as provided in Article VIII, section 11, of the
23 Constitution of Nebraska, the payment in lieu of taxes shall be based on
24 the proportionate share of the cost of providing public safety, rescue,
25 or emergency services and road or street construction or maintenance
26 services unless a general policy is adopted by the governing body of the
27 governmental subdivision providing such services which provides for a
28 different method of determining the amount of the payment in lieu of
29 taxes. The governing body may adopt a general policy by ordinance or
30 resolution for determining the amount of payment in lieu of taxes by
31 majority vote after a hearing on the ordinance or resolution. Such