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Wayne R. Malaney, P.A. 06/18/2010: Changes to Sales Tax on Admissions. Events Sponsored by Governmental Entities, Sports Authorities, and Sports Commissions are Now Exempt. View TIP #10A01-06 from Florida Department of Revenue, 2010 Tax Information Publication. 06/14/2010: 1035, 1172, 648, 561, 959, 5001, 5003, 663, 1074, 531, 1136, 33, 1068, 555, 446, 751, 1157, 1554, 1752, 927, 1128, 637, 579, 1070, 557, 1170, 649, 401, 832, 693, 711, 717, 693, 1430, 717, 741, 1666, 1736, 785, 847, 220, 172, 152, 167, 216, 154, 359, 156, 996, 335, 366, 187, 556, 624, 626, 632, 682, 1062, 549, 1098, 441, , 697, 1704, 571, 1190, 7205, 7215. This is a partial list of the bills identified for tracking. Some are watched for amendments or to be a vehicle for an amendment I can offer to help the FFMA. Others have to be lobbied against and vigil kept for bad amendments (see below). At the end of this report I have provided an example of a bill and related bills and amendments that can be moving through the legislative process. An example of the range of topics I cover include: Taxes of all types (as a vehicle to amend FFMA issues on to), building code (including construction, elevator and fire safety), service of alcoholic beverages, economic development, government procurement (including bid tampering/advertising and prompt payment, verification of residency of employees on public projects, for example), unemployment compensation, food service, public employee issues, professional sports and spring baseball, consumer protection, and ... Wayne R. Malaney, P.A., 2010 Legislative Report (Microsoft Word format; 7 Pages) 05/01/2010: The big news is that the tax exemption on the sale of tickets to events solely promoted by governmental buildings, sports authorities and sports commissions has been reenacted--this time without a sunset date. The language included in HB 579 by Rep. Dough Holder and SB 1070 by Sen. Thad Altman was included SB 1752, commonly referred to as the Jobs Bill. It passed Friday morning. It will be sent to the Governor for his signature. It is widely viewed that Gov. Crist will sign the bill into law. SB 1190 did not pass. It and its companion HB 571 died in committee. It will be filed again next year. This is the legislation to prohibit the sweep of advance ticket sale money into the promoters' accounts rather than the public facilities accounts, without a surety bond being posted by the promoter to protect the funds. Many other issues were followed and will be part of the annual legislative report. One of note, was an attempt by Sen. Ring to circumvent many of the protections against scalping, such as the prohibition against software to circumvent protections with in a ticket vendors system and the 501 c 3s protection when the venue is less than 3000 seats. I was successful in convincing Sen. Ring that his amendment went to far. I worked with him and the sponsor (Sen Bennett)of the bill he wanted to attach the amendment to have Sen. Ring talk about his issue (paperless ticketing) at the committee with the understanding he was going to w/draw the amendment. Another matter is the establishment of a task force under the direction of the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED). It will consist of 9 members, 4 form government and 5 from nonprofit and governmentally run performing arts centers. It will look at the economic impact of PACs, with a report due by Dec. 31, 2010. We did not pursue reenactment of the sales tax exemption for services. In a tight budget year the fiscal impact was too large to reasonably expect to get it passed. This size of the fiscal impact has been the problem in getting a larger package in past years. As such, the decision was made to pursue only the smaller fiscal amount related to the item first mentioned. In fact, in that matter I was able to successfully argue to the Revenue Impact Conference personnel that the impact needed to be reduced from $500K down to $200K. Thanks to all of you who worked with me this year in contacting your legislators. As special thank you to Pat Calhoon for working diligently to help secure Rep. Holder as the sponsor of the admission tax exemption bill. 12/01/2009: Excerpt taken from FFMA December 2009 Newsletter If you haven't been keeping up, the economic barometer for the next three years spells gloom and doom. The rising cost of Medicaid is going to outpace any growth. The stimulus money will be gone after FY 2010-2011, deepening the whole for the next two fiscal years. And, the state's top priorities will be education and safety. None the less we will forge on. I have spoken to Rep. O'Toole's aide regarding filing a bill for the FFMA. It may be watered down to reduce the fiscal impact. The fiscal impact has repeatedly been of the proposed legislation. There is no word yet on whether she is willing to sponsor the legislation. In the meantime, I am preparing a request to the Department of Revenue for a TAA. In essence it will seek to update the 1999 TAA and reaffirm portion of that previous advisory. The rental tax on service associated w/ use of the building will be addressed; as will the issue of charging a rental tax on space used for novelty concessions when only a percentage of the sales is remitted to the facility. The sales tax on admissions to events that are solely promoted by a governmentally owned facility, sport authority or sports commission must be addressed legislatively. Thank you for your continued support. As always, I urge you to get to know your legislators. Talk to them about the issues, the impact on the industry, the impact of lost jobs and the declining economy's affect on your bottom line, particularly if you are a governmentally-owned facility. 07/02/2009: Wayne R. Malaney, P.A., 2009 Legislative Report (MS Word) Addresses Sales Tax Exemption Sunset, Public Records Exemption Extended for Building Plans, Public Records Exemption for Names of Contributors, Resale of Tickets for Admission by 501(c)(3) Venues, OSHA Proposal and Conclusion. 06/30/2009: The Florida Department of Revenue Tax Information Publication (TIP) 09A01-03, Changes Affecting Convention Halls, Exhibition Halls, Auditoriums, Stadiums, Theaters, Arenas, Civic Centers, Performing Arts Centers, or Publicly-Owned Recreational Facilities, dated June 18, 2009, has been posted to the DOR Internet site. To view TIP 09A01-03 click: 06/01/2009: The 2009 Legislative Session was disappointing. Once again the economy was the major road block to passage of the extension of the tax exemptions due to sunset June 30, 2009. Also, due to the independent action of some members certain opportunities were lost. So, on July 1, 2009, barring a change in the way business is conducted (primarily through contract changes) rental tax will be due on space leased for sale of novelty concessions when only a percentage of sales is collected for use of the space. Those of you currently charging by the space or a fee for the space plus a percentage of sales should already be collecting and remitting tax for use of space for this type of use. And, if you are public building doing any show on your own (no co-promotions and taking all the risk and receiving all the reward), you will have to begin collecting sales tax on the price of admissions (except for those portions, such as service charges, already exempt)... The 2009 session of the Florida Legislature is well under way. Session ends May 1, 2009. Of the remaining weeks both houses will take a break for the Passover/Easter holidays, between April 8th and 13th. Why is this important? Because, there is little time for bills we don't support to get passed, particularly when they have been referred to several committees or councils in each house and have yet to be heard. A myriad of bills impacting the members are filed. Of course, the repeal of the sunset on 3 sales tax exemptions continues to be the top priority bill. The sponsors are Senator Evelyn Lynn (SB 1362 and Rep. Marlene O'Toole (HB 863). Both have expressed to me their appreciation for the notes they received from many of the members thanking them for being the bill sponsor. I too want to pass along my appreciation. It means a lot when they hear from the proponents at home. Other bills include the repeal of scalping laws as they relate to PACs and PAHs who are supported by memberships (SB 2074 & HB 1287), a change in the funding structure for some facilities (HB 1183 & SB 2308), Sen. Gelber's "Hannah Montana" bill dealing w/ keeping up w/ticket sales (SB 1962--there's no House companion), and bill bringing cities and counties under OSHA to improve workplace safety (SB 1878 & HB 1029) files as the result of a task force recommendation... 10/01/2008: 06/23/2008: Wayne R. Malaney, P.A., 2008 Legislative Report (Adobe PDF) Addresses the need to erase or extend the sunset on the three remaining tax exemptions including: the sales tax exemption on admission to events which are totally (100% sponsored/promoted) by a government entity, the rental sales tax exemption on services related to the use of the facility, and the rental sales tax on space used to sell novelty concessions when that space is paid for based on a percentage of the sales are due to sunset beginning July 1, 2009. |
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