§209E-9 Eligibility; qualified business; sale of property or services.
(a) Any business firm may be eligible to be designated a qualified business for purposes of this chapter if the business:(1) Begins the operation of a trade or business within an enterprise zone;
(2) During each taxable year has at least fifty per cent of its enterprise zone establishment's gross receipts attributable to the active conduct of trade or business within the enterprise zone;
(3) Increases its average annual number of full-time employees by at least ten per cent by the end of its first tax year of participation; and
(4) During each subsequent taxable year at least maintains that higher level of employment.
(b) A business firm also may be eligible to be designated a qualified business for purposes of this chapter if the business:
(1) Is actively engaged in the conduct of a trade or business in an area immediately prior to an area being designated an enterprise zone;
(2) Meets the requirements of subsection (a)(2); and
(3) Increases its average annual number of full-time employees employed at the business' establishment or establishments located within the enterprise zone by at least ten per cent annually.
(c) After designation as an enterprise zone, each qualified business firm in the zone shall submit annually to the department an approved form supplied by the department that provides the information necessary for the department to determine if the business firm qualifies as a qualified business. The approved form shall be submitted by each business to the governing body of the county in which the enterprise zone is located, then forwarded to the department by the governing body of the county.
(d) The form referred to in subsection (c) shall be prima facie evidence of the eligibility of a business for the purposes of this section.
(e) Tangible personal property shall be sold at an establishment of a qualified business within an enterprise zone and the transfer of title to the buyer of the tangible personal property shall take place in the same enterprise zone in which the tangible personal property is sold. Services shall be sold at an establishment of a qualified business engaged in a service business within an enterprise zone and the services shall be delivered in the same enterprise zone in which sold. Any services rendered outside an enterprise zone shall not be deemed to be the services of a qualified business.
(f) For any fiscal year that includes September 11, 2001, a business may use its average annual number of full-time employees as of August 31, 2001--rather than its average annual number at the end of its fiscal year including September 11, 2001--if necessary to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(3) and (4) or (b)(3). A business may also use its average annual number of full-time employees at the end of its fiscal year that includes September 11, 2001, as its base number of full-time employees if necessary to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(3) and (4) or (b)(3) in future fiscal years. [L 1986, c 78, pt of §1; am L 1989, c 390, §4; am L 1995, c 91, §5; am L 1996, c 286, §2; am L 1997, c 262, §3; am L 2000, c 118, §3; am L 2002, c 146, §2]