CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO.149
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 1224
S.D. 1
C.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2005
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 1224, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION,"
having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.
The purpose of this bill is to improve the administration of the general excise and use taxes by:
(1) Requiring the Department of Taxation (DOTAX), no later than November 1, 2005, and with unspecified designees selected by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker), to:
(A) Identify issues that need to be resolved to effectuate the orderly enactment and operation of a streamlined sales and use tax that is based on the Streamlined Sales Tax Project's Model Agreement and Act (Model Agreement and Act);
(B) Draft policy recommendations to resolve these issues for the Legislature; and
(C) Conduct for the Legislature, informational briefings on its policy recommendations and its efforts to comply with this bill;
(2) Requiring DOTAX to submit proposed legislation to the Legislature prior to the Regular Session of 2006 that provides for the implementation of a streamlined sales and use tax in accordance with the Model Agreement and Act;
(3) Appropriating an unspecified amount of funds, to be expended by DOTAX, to carry out the provisions established in this bill; and
(4) Repealing the statutory requirement that requires DOTAX to consult with an advisory council with respect to multistate discussions relating to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.
After careful consideration, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:
(1) Establishing requirements, procedures, standards, and guidelines for compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement;
(2) Specifying that DOTAX may enter into the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement with one or more states with the concurrence of the Legislature;
(3) Deleting the requirement that DOTAX draft policy recommendations to resolve the issues involved in the enactment and operation of a streamlined sales and use tax that is based on the Model Agreement and Act;
(4) Establishing that DOTAX execute its duties to identify issues that need to be resolved for the enactment and operation of a streamlined sales and use tax that is based on the Model Agreement and Act no later than August 1, 2005, instead of November 1, 2005;
(5) Specifying that DOTAX work with three designees selected by the President of the Senate and three designees selected by the Speaker;
(6) Revising the requirement for DOTAX to submit proposed legislation to the Legislature by:
(A) Specifying that the proposed legislation is to be submitted to the Legislature prior to January 1, 2007; and
(B) Changing the contents of the proposed legislation by:
(i) Deleting the requirement for implementation of a
streamlined sales and use tax in accordance with the Model Agreement and Act; and
(ii) Specifying that the proposed legislation provide
any further amendments requested by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project to address issues such as sourcing and rounding and to enhance the operation of a streamlined sales and use tax;
(7) Declaring that the general excise and use tax law under
chapters 237 and 238, Hawaii Revised Statutes, substantially comply with the requirements set forth under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement;
(8) Inserting an appropriation amount of $50,000, and specifying that the funds are to be used for technical assistance and briefings to enable the Legislature to carry out its responsibilities;
(9) Establishing certain specific authorized uses of the appropriation;
(10) Changing the expending agency from DOTAX to the Auditor and establishing that the Auditor shall secure the necessary services to support the project without regard to the Public Procurement Code;
(11) Allowing contractors contracted by the Auditor to support the project to inspect tax returns and receive abstracts of tax returns and other information contained in the tax returns only for the purpose of conforming the State's general excise and use taxes to the Model Agreement and Act; and
(12) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1224, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1224, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:
|
ON THE PART OF THE SENATE |
ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE |
|
____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair |
____________________________ DWIGHT TAKAMINE, Chair |
|
|
____________________________ CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair |
||