The Florida Senate

212.084  Review of exemption certificates; reissuance; specified expiration date; temporary exemption certificates.--

(1)(a)  In reviewing each sales tax exemption certificate, the department shall ensure that the institution, organization, or individual possessing the certificate is actively engaged in an exempt endeavor as stipulated in this chapter.

(b)  Whenever feasible, the department shall choose entities for review based on an alphabetical selection procedure.

(2)(a)  Each institution, organization, or individual possessing a sales tax exemption certificate shall cooperate fully with the department during its review of the certificate. The department shall revoke the sales tax exemption certificate of any entity that fails to respond to either of two written requests for information regarding the taxable status of the entity. These requests must be mailed at least 4 weeks apart to the last known address of the entity.

(b)  Any entity may apply for reissuance of a revoked exemption certificate if the revocation occurred due to the failure of the entity to respond to either of the two written requests sent by the department.

(3)  After review is completed and it has been determined that an institution, organization, or individual is actively engaged in a bona fide exempt endeavor, the department shall reissue an exemption certificate to the entity. However, each certificate so reissued is valid for 5 consecutive years, at which time the review and reissuance procedure provided by this section apply again. If the department determines that an entity no longer qualifies for an exemption, it shall revoke the tax exemption certificate of the entity.

(4)  Each sales tax exemption certificate expires 5 years after the date of issuance. Upon expiration, the certificate is subject to the review and reissuance procedures provided by this section.

(5)  The department may require that an entity submit documentation and evidence of its organizational structure, federal tax status, program content, or any other materials necessary during the review process mandated by this section.

(6)(a)  The Department of Revenue may issue temporary exemption certificates to newly organized charitable organizations applying for exemption under s. 212.08(7)(p) when a lack of historical information prevents the applicant from qualifying immediately for an exemption certificate. The department may require the applicant to submit the information necessary to demonstrate that the organization's proposed activities will qualify for exemption under this chapter. The application must include an estimate of the organization's expenditures that would be taxable except for the temporary exemption certificate. If at any time the amount of actual expenditures otherwise subject to tax exceeds the anticipated amount, the applicant must file with the department a supplemental application stating the actual expenditures and the estimated expenditures for the duration of the period covered by the temporary certificate.

(b)  A recipient of a temporary certificate must qualify for a permanent certificate before the temporary certificate expires, or the recipient will be liable for the taxes and interest on all purchases for which the temporary exemption certificate was used. The executive director of the department may require the applicant for a temporary exemption certificate to file a cash or surety bond in an amount sufficient to satisfy the department's estimate of taxes and interest that would be due if the organization failed to timely qualify for a regular exemption certificate.

(c)  A temporary exemption certificate expires 12 months after the date of issuance and may be renewed once for an additional 12 months. If at any time the department determines that the organization will not meet the criteria in s. 212.08(7)(p) for the issuance of a regular exemption certificate, the temporary exemption certificate must be canceled, and the taxes and interest on all purchases for which the temporary exemption certificate was used are due within 30 days after the cancellation. The department may adopt rules governing the application for, the issuance of, and the form of the temporary exemption certificate and providing for the collection of back taxes and interest.

(7)  Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 213.053 to the contrary, the department shall furnish, upon request, the name and address of any institution, organization, individual, or other entity possessing a valid sales tax exemption certificate.

History.--s. 14, ch. 83-137; s. 5, ch. 83-338; s. 1, ch. 94-178; s. 29, ch. 96-397; s. 24, ch. 97-99; s. 2, ch. 2000-228.