AN
ACT Relating to the implementation of the enhanced 911 excise tax study
recommendations regarding 911 emergency communications system funding; amending
RCW 82.14B.020, 82.14B.030, 82.14B.040, 82.14B.060, 82.32.010, 82.32.105, and
38.52.540; adding new sections to chapter 82.14B RCW; creating a new section;
prescribing penalties; and providing effective dates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that:
(1)
The state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed at the current rate of twenty cents
per switched access line per month generates adequate tax revenues to enhance
the 911 telephone system for switched access lines state-wide by December 31,
1998, as mandated in RCW 38.52.510;
(2)
The tax revenues generated from the state enhanced 911 excise tax when the tax
rate decreases to a maximum of ten cents per switched access line on January 1,
1999, will not be adequate to fund the long‑term operation and equipment
replacement costs for the enhanced 911 telephone systems in the counties or
multicounty regions that receive financial assistance from the state enhanced
911 office;
(3)
Some counties or multicounty regions will need financial assistance from the
state enhanced 911 office to implement and maintain enhanced 911 because the
tax revenue generated from the county enhanced 911 excise tax is not adequate;
(4)
Counties with populations of less than seventy-five thousand will need salary
assistance to create multicounty regions and counties with populations of seventy-five
thousand or more, if requested by smaller counties, will need technical
assistance and incentives to provide multicounty services; and
(5)
Counties should not request state financial assistance for implementation and
maintenance of enhanced 911 for switched access lines unless the county has
imposed the maximum enhanced 911 tax authorized in RCW 82.14B.030.
Sec.
2. RCW
82.14B.020 and 1994 c 96 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
As
used in this chapter:
(1)
"Emergency services communication system" means a multicounty,
county-wide, or district-wide radio or landline communications network,
including an enhanced 911 telephone system, which provides rapid public access
for coordinated dispatching of services, personnel, equipment, and facilities
for police, fire, medical, or other emergency services.
(2)
"Enhanced 911 telephone system" means a public telephone system
consisting of a network, data base, and on-premises equipment that is accessed
by dialing 911 and that enables reporting police, fire, medical, or other
emergency situations to a public safety answering point. The system includes
the capability to selectively route incoming 911 calls to the appropriate
public safety answering point that operates in a defined 911 service area and
the capability to automatically display the name, address, and telephone number
of incoming 911 calls at the appropriate public safety answering point.
(3)
"Switched access line" means the telephone service line which connects
a subscriber's main telephone(s) or equivalent main telephone(s) to the local
exchange company's switching office.
(4)
"Local exchange company" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW
80.04.010.
(5)
"Radio access line" means the telephone number assigned to or used by
((an end user)) a subscriber for two-way local wireless voice
service available to the public for hire from a radio communications service
company. Radio access lines include, but are not limited to, radio-telephone
communications lines used in cellular telephone service, personal
communications services, and network radio access lines, or their functional
and competitive equivalent. Radio access lines do not include lines that
provide access to one-way signaling service, such as paging service, or to
communications channels suitable only for data transmission, or to nonlocal
radio access line service, such as wireless roaming service, or to a private
telecommunications system.
(6)
"Radio communications service company" has the meaning ascribed to it
in RCW 80.04.010.
(7)
"Private telecommunications system" has the meaning ascribed to it in
RCW 80.04.010.
(8)
"Subscriber" means the retail purchaser of telephone service as
telephone service is defined in RCW 82.04.065(3).
Sec.
3. RCW
82.14B.030 and 1994 c 96 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The legislative authority of a county may impose a county enhanced 911 excise
tax on the use of switched access lines in an amount not exceeding fifty cents
per month for each switched access line. The amount of tax shall be uniform
for each switched access line. Each county shall provide notice of such tax to
all local exchange companies serving in the county at least sixty days in
advance of the date on which the first payment is due.
(2)
The legislative authority of a county may also impose a county 911 excise tax
on the use of radio access lines located within the county in an amount not
exceeding twenty-five cents per month for each radio access line. The amount
of tax shall be uniform for each radio access line. The county shall provide
notice of such tax to all radio communications service companies serving in the
county at least sixty days in advance of the date on which the first payment is
due. Any county imposing this tax shall include in its ordinance a refund
mechanism whereby the amount of any tax ordered to be refunded by the judgment
of a court of record, or as a result of the resolution of any appeal therefrom,
shall be refunded to the radio communications service company or local exchange
company that collected the tax, and those companies shall reimburse the ((users))
subscribers who paid the tax. The ordinance shall further provide that
to the extent the ((users)) subscribers who paid the tax cannot
be identified or located, the tax paid by those ((users)) subscribers
shall be returned to the county.
(3)
((Beginning January 1, 1992,)) A state enhanced 911 excise tax is
imposed on all switched access lines in the state. ((For 1992, the tax
shall be set at a rate of twenty cents per month for each switched access
line. Until December 31, 1998,)) The amount of tax shall not exceed
twenty cents per month for each switched access line ((and thereafter shall
not exceed ten cents per month for each switched access line)). The tax
shall be uniform for each switched access line. The tax imposed under this
subsection shall be remitted to the department of revenue by local exchange
companies on a tax return provided by the department. Tax proceeds shall
be deposited by the treasurer in the enhanced 911 account created in RCW
38.52.540.
(4)
By August 31st of each year the state enhanced 911 coordinator shall recommend
the level for the next year of the state enhanced 911 excise tax, based on a
systematic cost and revenue analysis, to the utilities and transportation
commission. The commission shall by the following October 31st determine the
level of the state enhanced 911 excise tax for the following year.
Sec.
4. RCW
82.14B.040 and 1994 c 96 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
The
state enhanced 911 tax and the county enhanced 911 tax on switched access lines
shall be collected from the ((user)) subscriber by the local
exchange company providing the switched access line. The county 911 tax on
radio access lines shall be collected from the ((end user)) subscriber
by the radio communications service company providing the radio access line to
the ((end user)) subscriber. The amount of the tax shall be
stated separately on the billing statement which is sent to the ((user))
subscriber.
Sec.
5. RCW
82.14B.060 and 1981 c 160 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
A
county legislative authority imposing a tax under this chapter shall establish
by ordinance all necessary and appropriate procedures for the administration
and collection of the tax, which ordinance shall provide for reimbursement to
the telephone companies for actual costs of administration and collection of the
tax imposed. The ordinance shall also provide that the due date for remittance
of the tax collected shall be ((thirty days following the collection month))
on or before the last day of the month following the month in which the tax
liability accrues.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 6. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The department of revenue shall administer and shall adopt such rules as may be
necessary to enforce and administer the state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed
by this chapter. Chapter 82.32 RCW, with the exception of RCW 82.32.045,
82.32.145, and 82.32.380, applies to the administration, collection, and
enforcement of the state enhanced 911 excise tax.
(2)
The state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by this chapter, along with reports
and returns on forms prescribed by the department, are due monthly on or before
the last day of the month following the month in which the tax liability
accrues.
(3)
The department of revenue may relieve any taxpayer or class of taxpayers from
the obligation of remitting monthly and may require the return to cover other
longer reporting periods, but in no event may returns be filed for a period
greater than one year. For these taxpayers, tax payments are due on or before
the last day of the month next succeeding the end of the period covered by the
return.
(4)
The state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by this chapter is in addition to any
taxes imposed upon the same persons under chapters 82.08 and 82.12 RCW.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 7. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
(1)
A local exchange company or radio communications service company shall file tax
returns on a cash receipts or accrual basis according to which method of
accounting is regularly employed in keeping the books of the company. A local
exchange company or radio communications service company filing returns on a
cash receipts basis is not required to pay tax on debts that are deductible as worthless
for federal income tax purposes.
(2)
A local exchange company or radio communications service company is entitled to
a credit or refund for state enhanced 911 excise taxes previously paid on debts
that are deductible as worthless for federal income tax purposes.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 8. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
The
taxes imposed by this chapter do not apply to any activity that the state or
county is prohibited from taxing under the constitution of this state or the
constitution or laws of the United States.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 9. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by this chapter must be paid by the
subscriber to the local exchange company providing the switched access line,
and each local exchange company shall collect from the subscriber the full
amount of the tax payable. The state enhanced 911 excise tax required by this
chapter to be collected by the local exchange company is deemed to be held in
trust by the local exchange company until paid to the department. Any local
exchange company that appropriates or converts the tax collected to its own use
or to any use other than the payment of the tax to the extent that the money
collected is not available for payment on the due date as prescribed in this
chapter is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(2)
If any local exchange company fails to collect the state enhanced 911 excise
tax or, after collecting the tax, fails to pay it to the department in the
manner prescribed by this chapter, whether such failure is the result of its
own act or the result of acts or conditions beyond its control, the local exchange
company is personally liable to the state for the amount of the tax, unless the
local exchange company has taken from the buyer in good faith a properly
executed resale certificate under section 10 of this act.
(3)
The amount of tax, until paid by the subscriber to the local exchange company
or to the department, constitutes a debt from the subscriber to the local
exchange company. Any local exchange company that fails or refuses to collect
the tax as required with intent to violate the provisions of this chapter or to
gain some advantage or benefit, either direct or indirect, and any subscriber
who refuses to pay any tax due under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The state enhanced 911 excise tax required by this chapter to be collected by
the local exchange company must be stated separately on the billing statement
that is sent to the subscriber.
(4)
If a subscriber has failed to pay to the local exchange company the state
enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by this chapter and the local exchange company
has not paid the amount of the tax to the department, the department may, in
its discretion, proceed directly against the subscriber for collection of the
tax, in which case a penalty of ten percent may be added to the amount of the
tax for failure of the subscriber to pay the tax to the local exchange company,
regardless of when the tax is collected by the department. For the sole
purpose of applying the various provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW, the last day
of the month following the tax period in which the tax liability accrued is to
be considered as the due date of the tax.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 10. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
(1)
Unless a local exchange company has taken from the buyer a resale certificate
or equivalent document under RCW 82.04.470, the burden of proving that a sale
of the use of a switched access lines was not a sale to a subscriber is upon
the person who made the sale.
(2)
If a local exchange company does not receive a resale certificate at the time
of the sale, have a resale certificate on file at the time of the sale, or
obtain a resale certificate from the buyer within a reasonable time after the
sale, the local exchange company remains liable for the tax as provided in
section 9 of this act, unless the local exchange company can demonstrate facts
and circumstances according to rules adopted by the department of revenue that
show the sale was properly made without payment of the state enhanced 911 excise
tax.
(3)
The penalty imposed by RCW 82.32.291 may not be assessed on state enhanced 911
excise taxes due but not paid as a result of the improper use of a resale
certificate. This subsection does not prohibit or restrict the application of
other penalties authorized by law.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 11. A
new section is added to chapter 82.14B RCW to read as follows:
(1)
Upon termination, dissolution, or abandonment of a corporate or limited
liability company business, any officer, member, manager, or other person
having control or supervision of state enhanced 911 excise tax funds collected
and held in trust under section 9 of this act, or who is charged with the
responsibility for the filing of returns or the payment of state enhanced 911
excise tax funds collected and held in trust under section 9 of this act, is
personally liable for any unpaid taxes and interest and penalties on those
taxes, if such officer or other person willfully fails to pay or to cause to be
paid any state enhanced 911 excise taxes due from the corporation under this
chapter. For the purposes of this section, any state enhanced 911 excise taxes
that have been paid but not collected are deductible from the state enhanced
911 excise taxes collected but not paid. For purposes of this subsection
"willfully fails to pay or to cause to be paid" means that the
failure was the result of an intentional, conscious, and voluntary course of
action.
(2)
The officer, member, manager, or other person is liable only for taxes
collected that became due during the period he or she had the control,
supervision, responsibility, or duty to act for the corporation described in
subsection (1) of this section, plus interest and penalties on those taxes.
(3)
Persons liable under subsection (1) of this section are exempt from liability
if nonpayment of the state enhanced 911 excise tax funds held in trust is due
to reasons beyond their control as determined by the department by rule.
(4)
Any person having been issued a notice of assessment under this section is
entitled to the appeal procedures under RCW 82.32.160 through 82.32.200.
(5)
This section applies only if the department has determined that there is no
reasonable means of collecting the state enhanced 911 excise tax funds held in
trust directly from the corporation.
(6)
This section does not relieve the corporation or limited liability company of
other tax liabilities or otherwise impair other tax collection remedies
afforded by law.
(7)
Collection authority and procedures prescribed in chapter 82.32 RCW apply to
collections under this section.
Sec.
12. RCW
82.32.010 and 1984 c 204 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:
The
provisions of this chapter shall apply with respect to the taxes imposed under
chapters 82.04 through 82.14 RCW, under RCW 82.14B.030(3), under chapters
82.16 through 82.29A RCW of this title, under chapter 84.33 RCW, and under
other titles, chapters, and sections in such manner and to such extent as
indicated in each such title, chapter, or section.
Sec.
13. RCW
82.32.105 and 1996 c 149 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
If the department of revenue finds that the payment by a taxpayer of a tax less
than that properly due or the failure of a taxpayer to pay any tax by the due
date was the result of circumstances beyond the control of the taxpayer, the
department of revenue shall waive or cancel any penalties imposed under this
chapter with respect to such tax.
(2)
The department shall waive or cancel the penalty imposed under RCW 82.32.090(1)
when the circumstances under which the delinquency occurred do not qualify for
waiver or cancellation under subsection (1) of this section if:
(a)
The taxpayer requests the waiver for a tax return required to be filed under
RCW 82.32.045, section 6 of this act, 82.23B.020, 82.27.060, 82.29A.050,
or 84.33.086; and
(b)
The taxpayer has timely filed and remitted payment on all tax returns due for
that tax program for a period of twenty‑four months immediately preceding
the period covered by the return for which the waiver is being requested.
(3)
The department shall waive or cancel interest imposed under this chapter if:
(a)
The failure to timely pay the tax was the direct result of written instructions
given the taxpayer by the department; or
(b)
The extension of a due date for payment of an assessment of deficiency was not
at the request of the taxpayer and was for the sole convenience of the
department.
(4)
The department of revenue shall adopt rules for the waiver or cancellation of
penalties and interest imposed by this chapter.
Sec.
14. RCW
38.52.540 and 1994 c 96 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
The
enhanced 911 account is created in the state treasury. All receipts from the
state enhanced 911 excise tax imposed by RCW 82.14B.030 shall be deposited into
the account. Moneys in the account shall be used only to help implement and
operate enhanced 911 state-wide((, and to conduct a study of the tax base
and rate for the 911 excise tax)). Moneys in the account may be used to
provide salary assistance on a temporary basis not to exceed three years to
counties with a population of less than seventy-five thousand that need
additional resources to cover unfunded costs that can be shown to result from
handling 911 calls. Moneys in the account may be used to assist multicounty
regions, including ongoing salary assistance for multicounty regions consisting
of counties with populations of less than seventy-five thousand. However,
funds shall not be distributed to any county that has not imposed the maximum
county enhanced 911 taxes allowed under RCW 82.14B.030 (1) and (2). The
state enhanced 911 coordinator, with the advice and assistance of the enhanced
911 advisory committee, shall specify by rule the purposes for which moneys may
be expended from this account.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. This
act takes effect January 1, 1999, except section 14 of this act which takes
effect July 1, 1998.
