SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1984
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE FROELKER.
Read 1st time February 19, 2002, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 144.020, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to a sales tax exemption for motor vehicles.
Section A. Section 144.020, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 144.020 and 144.051, to read as follows:
144.020. 1. A tax is hereby levied and imposed upon all sellers for the privilege of engaging in the business of selling tangible personal property or rendering taxable service at retail in this state. The rate of tax shall be as follows:
(1) Upon every retail sale in this state of tangible personal property, including but not limited to motor vehicles, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds, motortricycles, boats and outboard motors, except for any motor vehicle as described in section 144.051, RSMo, a tax equivalent to four percent of the purchase price paid or charged, or in case such sale involves the exchange of property, a tax equivalent to four percent of the consideration paid or charged, including the fair market value of the property exchanged at the time and place of the exchange, except as otherwise provided in section 144.025;
(2) A tax equivalent to four percent of the amount paid for admission and seating accommodations, or fees paid to, or in any place of amusement, entertainment or recreation, games and athletic events;
(3) A tax equivalent to four percent of the basic rate paid or charged on all sales of electricity or electrical current, water and gas, natural or artificial, to domestic, commercial or industrial consumers;
(4) A tax equivalent to four percent on the basic rate paid or charged on all sales of local and long distance telecommunications service to telecommunications subscribers and to others through equipment of telecommunications subscribers for the transmission of messages and conversations and upon the sale, rental or leasing of all equipment or services pertaining or incidental thereto; except that, the payment made by telecommunications subscribers or others, pursuant to section 144.060, and any amounts paid for access to the Internet or interactive computer services shall not be considered as amounts paid for telecommunications services;
(5) A tax equivalent to four percent of the basic rate paid or charged for all sales of services for transmission of messages of telegraph companies;
(6) A tax equivalent to four percent on the amount of sales or charges for all rooms, meals and drinks furnished at any hotel, motel, tavern, inn, restaurant, eating house, drugstore, dining car, tourist cabin, tourist camp or other place in which rooms, meals or drinks are regularly served to the public;
(7) A tax equivalent to four percent of the amount paid or charged for intrastate tickets by every person operating a railroad, sleeping car, dining car, express car, boat, airplane and such buses and trucks as are licensed by the division of motor carrier and railroad safety of the department of economic development of Missouri, engaged in the transportation of persons for hire;
(8) A tax equivalent to four percent of the amount paid or charged for rental or lease of tangible personal property, provided that if the lessor or renter of any tangible personal property had previously purchased the property under the conditions of "sale at retail" as defined in subdivision (8) of section 144.010 or leased or rented the property and the tax was paid at the time of purchase, lease or rental, the lessor, sublessor, renter or subrenter shall not apply or collect the tax on the subsequent lease, sublease, rental or subrental receipts from that property. The purchase, rental or lease of motor vehicles, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds, motortricycles, boats, and outboard motors shall be taxed and the tax paid as provided in this section and section 144.070. In no event shall the rental or lease of boats and outboard motors be considered a sale, charge, or fee to, for or in places of amusement, entertainment or recreation nor shall any such rental or lease be subject to any tax imposed to, for, or in such places of amusement, entertainment or recreation. Rental and leased boats or outboard motors shall be taxed under the provisions of the sales tax laws as provided under such laws for motor vehicles and trailers. Tangible personal property which is exempt from the sales or use tax under section 144.030 upon a sale thereof is likewise exempt from the sales or use tax upon the lease or rental thereof.
2. All tickets sold which are sold under the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525 which are subject to the sales tax shall have printed, stamped or otherwise endorsed thereon, the words "This ticket is subject to a sales tax.".
144.051. 1. In addition to the exemptions granted in section 144.030, there is hereby specifically exempted from any sales and use tax levied by the state all purchases of the following motor vehicles:
(1) "Qualified alternative-fueled motor vehicle", a motor vehicle that operates on an alternative fuel, meets or exceeds the clean fuel vehicle standards in the federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, as amended, codified in subchapter II of chapter 85 of title 42 of the United States Code, meets or exceeds the minimum fuel efficiency standard as provided in subsection 3 of this section, and meets one of the following categories:
(a) "Bi-fuel motor vehicle", a motor vehicle with two separate fuel systems designed to run on either an alternative fuel or conventional fuel, using only one fuel at a time;
(b) "Dedicated motor vehicle", a motor vehicle with an engine designed to operate on a single alternative fuel only; or
(c) "Flexible fuel motor vehicle", a motor vehicle that may operate on a blend of an alternative fuel with a conventional fuel, such as fuel classified as E-85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) or M-85 (85 percent methanol and 15 percent gasoline), as long as such motor vehicle is capable of operating on at least an 85 percent alternative fuel blend;
(2) "High efficiency motor vehicle", a motor vehicle that operates on conventional fuel that meets or exceeds the minimum fuel standard as determined in subsection 3 of this section.
2. For purposes of this section, "alternative fuel" means fuel as defined in 42 U.S.C. 13211, as amended.
3. The department of natural resources shall annually, by rule, for each category of vehicle in subsection 1 of this
section considered high efficiency by comparable scientific standards, set a minimum fuel efficiency standard of not
less than fifty miles per gallon for conventional fuels or the equivalent for alternative fuels.
Missouri House of Representatives