Corporate franchise tax shift gets nod

The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would shift the administration and collection of the corporate franchise tax from the secretary of state to the state Department of Finance and Administration effective Jan. 1, 2020.

The Senate voted 31-1 to send Senate Bill 561 by Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, to the House for further action.

The bill includes several other recommendations of the Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force for which Hendren served as a co-chairman.

SB561 also would:

■ Require the Assessment Coordination Department to adopt mandatory guidelines to be followed by county assessors to identify property exempt from property taxes and for assessing business inventory. The department would be required to report non-compliance by counties to the Legislature.

■ Require the director of the state Department of Finance and Administration to report to the Legislative Council and the governor before each regular legislative session on the effect of each tax exemption, discount, credit and deduction.

■ Provide a sales tax exemption for advertising space placed on a public transit bus, effective Oct. 1. The revenue loss would be about $50,000 a year.

■ Require more information on all-terrain vehicles to ensure that they are eligible for the farm machinery and equipment sales tax exemption at the time of purchase, effective Oct. 1.