BILL REQ. #: S-0682.4
State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/24/11. Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Trade & Innovation.
AN ACT Relating to tax deferrals for economic development investment projects in innovation partnership zones; and amending RCW 82.60.020.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 82.60.020 and 2010 1st sp.s. c 16 s 2 are each amended
to read as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
this section apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Applicant" means a person applying for a tax deferral under
this chapter.
(2) "Department" means the department of revenue.
(3) "Eligible area" means:
(a) ((Through)) Until June 30, 2010, a rural county as defined in
RCW 82.14.370; ((and))
(b) Beginning July 1, 2010 until June 30, 2011, a qualifying
county; and
(c) Beginning July 1, 2011, a qualifying county and an area
designated as an innovation partnership zone under RCW 43.330.270.
(4)(a) "Eligible investment project" means an investment project
that is located, as of the date the application required by RCW
82.60.030 is received by the department, in an eligible area as defined
in subsection (3) of this section.
(b) "Eligible investment project" does not include any portion of
an investment project undertaken by a light and power business as
defined in RCW 82.16.010(4), other than that portion of a cogeneration
project that is used to generate power for consumption within the
manufacturing site of which the cogeneration project is an integral
part, or investment projects that have already received deferrals under
this chapter.
(5) "Initiation of construction" has the same meaning as in RCW
82.63.010.
(6) "Investment project" means an investment in qualified buildings
or qualified machinery and equipment, including labor and services
rendered in the planning, installation, and construction of the
project.
(7) "Manufacturing" means the same as defined in RCW 82.04.120.
"Manufacturing" also includes:
(a) Before July 1, 2010: (i) Computer programming, the production
of computer software, and other computer-related services, but only
when the computer programming, production of computer software, or
other computer-related services are performed by a manufacturer as
defined in RCW 82.04.110 and contribute to the production of a new,
different, or useful substance or article of tangible personal property
for sale; (ii) the activities performed by research and development
laboratories and commercial testing laboratories; and (iii) the
conditioning of vegetable seeds; and
(b) Beginning July 1, 2010: (i) The activities performed by
research and development laboratories and commercial testing
laboratories; and (ii) the conditioning of vegetable seeds.
(8) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030.
(9) "Qualified buildings" means construction of new structures, and
expansion or renovation of existing structures for the purpose of
increasing floor space or production capacity used for manufacturing or
research and development activities, including plant offices and
warehouses or other facilities for the storage of raw material or
finished goods if such facilities are an essential or an integral part
of a factory, mill, plant, or laboratory used for manufacturing or
research and development. If a building is used partly for
manufacturing or research and development and partly for other
purposes, the applicable tax deferral must be determined by
apportionment of the costs of construction under rules adopted by the
department.
(10) "Qualified employment position" means a permanent full-time
employee employed in the eligible investment project during the entire
tax year. The term "entire tax year" means a full-time position that
is filled for a period of twelve consecutive months. The term "full-time" means at least thirty-five hours a week, four hundred fifty-five
hours a quarter, or one thousand eight hundred twenty hours a year.
(11) "Qualified machinery and equipment" means all new industrial
and research fixtures, equipment, and support facilities that are an
integral and necessary part of a manufacturing or research and
development operation. "Qualified machinery and equipment" includes:
Computers; software; data processing equipment; laboratory equipment;
manufacturing components such as belts, pulleys, shafts, and moving
parts; molds, tools, and dies; operating structures; and all equipment
used to control or operate the machinery.
(12) "Qualifying county" means a county that has an unemployment
rate, as determined by the employment security department, which is at
least twenty percent above the state average for the three calendar
years immediately preceding the year in which the list of qualifying
counties is established or updated, as the case may be, as provided in
RCW 82.60.120.
(13) "Recipient" means a person receiving a tax deferral under this
chapter.
(14) "Research and development" means the development, refinement,
testing, marketing, and commercialization of a product, service, or
process before commercial sales have begun, but only when such
activities are intended to ultimately result in the production of a
new, different, or useful substance or article of tangible personal
property for sale. As used in this subsection, "commercial sales"
excludes sales of prototypes or sales for market testing if the total
gross receipts from such sales of the product, service, or process do
not exceed one million dollars.