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H0031...............................................by REVENUE AND TAXATION PROPERTY TAX RELIEF - Amends existing law relating to property tax relief to revise the definitions for "claimant" and "owner." 01/24 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing 01/25 Rpt prt - to Rev/Tax 02/02 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/03 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/07 3rd rdg - PASSED - 69-0-1 AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bastian, Bayer, Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Cannon, Chadderdon, Clark, Collins, Crow, Deal, Denney, Edmunson, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Garrett, Hart, Harwood, Henbest, Henderson, Jaquet, Jones, Kemp, Lake, LeFavour, Loertscher, Martinez, Mathews, McGeachin, McKague, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Pence, Raybould, Ring, Ringo, Roberts, Rusche, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Skippen, Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson, Trail, Wills, Wood, Mr. Speaker NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Bradford Floor Sponsor - Smith(24) Title apvd - to Senate 02/08 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Loc Gov 02/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg 02/11 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg 02/18 3rd rdg - PASSED - 33-0-2 AYES -- Andreason, Broadsword, Bunderson, Burkett, Burtenshaw, Cameron, Coiner, Compton, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Gannon, Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst, Little, Lodge, Malepeai, Marley, McGee, McKenzie, Noble, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder, Stegner, Stennett, Werk, Williams NAYS -- None Absent and excused -- Brandt, Sweet Floor Sponsor - Langhorst Title apvd - to House 02/21 To enrol 02/22 Rpt enrol - Sp signed 02/23 Pres signed 02/24 To Governor 03/02 Governor signed Session Law Chapter 31 Effective: 07/01/05
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 31 BY REVENUE AND TAXATION COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO PROPERTY TAX RELIEF; AMENDING SECTION 63-701, IDAHO CODE, TO 3 REVISE THE DEFINITIONS FOR "CLAIMANT" AND "OWNER." 4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 5 SECTION 1. That Section 63-701, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 6 amended to read as follows: 7 63-701. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter: 8 (1) "Claimant" means a person who has filed a claim under the provisions 9 of sections 63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code. Except as provided in section 10 63-702(2), Idaho Code, on January 1, or before April 15, of the yearor before11April 15in which the claimantwasfirst filed a claim on the homestead in 12 question, a claimant must be an owner ofathe homestead and on January 1 of 13 said year a claimant must be: 14 (a) Not less than sixty-five (65) years old; or 15 (b) A child under the age of eighteen (18) years who is fatherless or 16 motherless or who has been abandoned by any surviving parent or parents; 17 or 18 (c) A widow or widower; or 19 (d) A disabled person who is recognized as disabled by the social secu- 20 rity administration pursuant to title 42 of the United States Code, or by 21 the railroad retirement board pursuant to title 45 of the United States 22 Code, or by the office of management and budget pursuant to title 5 of the 23 United States Code; or 24 (e) A disabled veteran of any war engaged in by the United States, whose 25 disability is recognized as a service-connected disability of a degree of 26 ten percent (10%) or more, or who has a pension for nonservice-connected 27 disabilities, in accordance with laws and regulations administered by the 28 United States veterans administration; or 29 (f) A person, as specified in 42 U.S.C. 1701, who was or is entitled to 30 receive benefits because he is known to have been taken by a hostile force 31 as a prisoner, hostage or otherwise; or 32 (g) Blind. 33 (2) "Homestead" means the dwelling, owner-occupied by the claimant as 34 described in this chapter and used as the primary dwelling place of the claim- 35 ant and may be occupied by any members of the household as their home, and so 36 much of the land surrounding it, not exceeding one (1) acre, as is reasonably 37 necessary for the use of the dwelling as a home. It may consist of a part of a 38 multidwelling or multipurpose building and part of the land upon which it is 39 built. "Homestead" does not include personal property such as furniture, fur- 40 nishings or appliances, but a manufactured home may be a homestead. 41 (3) "Household" means the claimant and the claimant's spouse. The term 42 does not include bona fide lessees, tenants, or roomers and boarders on con- 43 tract. "Household" includes persons described in subsection (8)(b) of this 2 1 section. 2 (4) "Household income" means all income received by the claimant and, if 3 married, all income received by the claimant's spouse, in a calendar year. 4 (5) "Income" means the sum of federal adjusted gross income as defined in 5 the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 63-3004, Idaho Code, and to 6 the extent not already included in federal adjusted gross income: 7 (a) Alimony; 8 (b) Support money; 9 (c) Nontaxable strike benefits; 10 (d) The nontaxable amount of any individual retirement account, pension 11 or annuity, (including railroad retirement benefits, all payments received 12 under the federal social security act except the social security death 13 benefit as specified in this subsection, state unemployment insurance 14 laws, and veterans disability pensions and compensation, excluding 15 rollovers as provided in section 402 or 403 of the Internal Revenue Code); 16 (e) Nontaxable interest received from the federal government or any of 17 its instrumentalities or a state government or any of its instrumentali- 18 ties; 19 (f) Worker's compensation; and 20 (g) The gross amount of loss of earnings insurance. 21 It does not include capital gains, gifts from nongovernmental sources or 22 inheritances. To the extent not reimbursed, the cost of medical care as 23 defined in section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, incurred or paid by 24 the claimant and, if married, the claimant's spouse, may be deducted from 25 income. To the extent not reimbursed, personal funeral expenses, including 26 prepaid funeral expenses and premiums on funeral insurance, of the claimant 27 and claimant's spouse only, may be deducted from income up to an annual maxi- 28 mum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per claim. "Income" does not include 29 veterans disability pensions received by a person described in subsection 30 (1)(e) who is a claimant or a claimant's spouse if the disability pension is 31 received pursuant to a service-connected disability of a degree of forty per- 32 cent (40%) or more. "Income" does not include lump sum death benefits made by 33 the social security administration pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 402(i). Docu- 34 mentation of medical expenses may be required by the county assessor, board of 35 equalization and state tax commission in such form as the county assessor, 36 board of equalization or state tax commission shall determine. "Income" shall 37 be that received in the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which 38 a claim is filed. Where a claimant and/or the claimant's spouse does not file 39 a federal tax return, the claimant's and/or the claimant's spouse's federal 40 adjusted gross income, for purposes of this section, shall be an income equiv- 41 alent to federal adjusted gross income had the claimant and/or the claimant's 42 spouse filed a federal tax return, as determined by the county assessor. The 43 county assessor, board of equalization or state tax commission may require 44 documentation of income in such form as each shall determine, including, but 45 not limited to: copies of federal or state tax returns and any attachments 46 thereto; and income reporting forms such as the W-2 and 1099. 47 (6) "Occupied" means actual use and possession. 48 (7) "Owner" means a person holding title in fee simple or holding a cer- 49 tificate of motor vehicle title (either of which may be subject to mortgage, 50 deed of trust or other lien) or who has retained or been granted a life estate 51 or who is a person entitled to file a claim under section 63-702, Idaho Code. 52 "Owner" shall also include any person who: 53 (a) Is the beneficiary of a revocable or irrevocable trust which is the 54 owner of such homestead and under which the claimant or the claimant's 55 spouse has the primary right of occupancy of the homestead; or 3 1 (b) Is a partner of a limited partnership, member of a limited liability 2 company or shareholder of a corporation if such entity holds title in fee 3 simple or holds a certificate of motor vehicle title and if the person 4 holds at least a five percent (5%) ownership in such entity, as deter- 5 mined by the county assessor; or 6 (c) Has retained or been granted a life estate. 7 "Owner" includes a vendee in possession under alandsale contract. Any par- 8 tial ownership shall be considered as ownership for determining initial quali- 9 fication for property tax reduction benefits; however, the amount of property 10 tax reduction under section 63-704, Idaho Code, and rules promulgated pursuant 11 to section 63-705, Idaho Code, shall be computed on the value of the 12 claimant's partial ownership. "Partial ownership," for the purposes of this 13 section, means any one (1) person's ownership when property is owned by more 14 than one (1) person or where the homestead is held by an entity, as set forth 15 in this subsection, but more than one (1) person has the right of occupancy of 16 such homestead. A person holding either partial title in fee simple or holding 17 a certificate of motor vehicle title together with another person but who does 18 not occupy the dwelling as his primary dwelling place, shall not be considered 19 an owner for purposes of this section, if such person is a cosignatory of a 20 note secured by the dwelling in question and at least one (1) of the other 21 cosignatories of the note occupies the dwelling as his primary dwelling place. 22 The combined community property interests of both spouses shall not be consid- 23 ered partial ownership so long as the combined community property interests 24 constitute the entire ownership of the homestead, including where the spouses 25 are occupying a homestead owned by an entity, as set forth in this subsection, 26 and the spouses have the primary right of occupancy of the homestead. The pro- 27 portional reduction required under this subsection shall not apply to commu- 28 nity property interests. Where title to propertyiswas held by a person who 29 has died without timely filing a claim for property tax reduction, the estate 30 of the deceased person shall be the "owner," provided that the time periods 31 during which the deceased person held such title shall be attributed to the 32 estate for the computation of any time periods under subsection (8)(a) or 33 (8)(b) of this section. 34 (8) (a) "Primary dwelling place" means the claimant's dwelling place on 35 January 1 or before April 15 of the year for which the claim is made. The 36 primary dwelling place is the single place where a claimant has his true, 37 fixed and permanent home and principal establishment, and to which when- 38 ever the individual is absent he has the intention of returning. A claim- 39 ant must establish the dwelling to which the claim relates to be his pri- 40 mary dwelling place by clear and convincing evidence or by establishing 41 that the dwelling is where the claimant resided on January 1 or before 42 April 15 and: 43 (i) At least six (6) months during the prior year; or 44 (ii) The majority of the time the claimant owned the dwelling if 45 owned by the claimant less than one (1) year; or 46 (iii) The majority of the time after the claimant first occupied the 47 dwelling if occupied by the claimant for less than one (1) year. The 48 county assessor may require written or other proof of the foregoing 49 in such form as the county assessor may determine. 50 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection, 51 the property upon which the claimant makes application shall be deemed to 52 be the claimant's primary dwelling place if the claimant is otherwise 53 qualified and resides in a care facility and does not allow the property 54 upon which the claimant has made application to be occupied by persons 55 paying a consideration to occupy the dwelling. Payment of utilities shall 4 1 not be payment of a consideration to occupy the dwelling. A claimant's 2 spouse who resides in a care facility shall be deemed to reside at the 3 claimant's primary dwelling place and to be a part of the claimant's 4 household. A care facility is a hospital, nursing facility or intermedi- 5 ate care facility for the mentally retarded as defined in section 39-1301, 6 Idaho Code, or a facility as defined in section 39-3302(16), Idaho Code, 7 or a dwelling other than the one upon which the applicant makes applica- 8 tion where a claimant who is unable to reside in the dwelling upon which 9 the application is made lives and receives help in daily living, protec- 10 tion and security.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS14618 Section One: Section 63-701(1) of the Idaho Code provide definitions for the determination of whether a claimant applying for what is commonly called "circuit breaker" tax relief is actually entitled to that tax relief. However, the existing statute fails to make clear whether the list of criteria in subparts (a) through (g) of the definitions must be met on January 1 of the relevant year or can be met at a later date during the year. This bill clarifies that the date for determination is in fact January 1. Section Two: Existing Section 63-701(7) of the Idaho Code states, in part, that: "Owner" includes a vendee in possession under a land sale contract. The word "land" indicates that perhaps land must be included in the sales contract, which causes confusion. There are thousands of homes on leased land and/or mobile homes that are considered personal property which currently are under contract sale and are nonetheless currently receiving homeowner's and property tax reduction benefits statewide. Therefore, this change would have no fiscal impact nor change the current administration of the programs. The change would simply clarify that sales contracts do not necessarily have to have "land" involved as part of the contract sale. Since Section 63-602G directly refers to Section 63- 701 (c) for the definition of ownership, this change would take care of both homeowner's and circuit breaker tax relief. Additionally, the said part (7) states, as set forth in the last sentence of the bill: "Where title to property is held by a person who has died without timely filing a claim for property tax reduction, the estate of the deceased person shall be the "owner", provided that the time periods during which the deceased person held such title shall be attributed to the estate for the computation of any time periods under subsection (8)(a) or (8)(b) of this section." The verb "is" at the beginning of that sentence should more properly be "was", since the person has died, and the estate of the person became the owner of the property immediately upon such death. FISCAL IMPACT This bill will have no fiscal impact. Contact Name: Robert L. Aldridge Phone: Office: (208) 336-9880 Home: (208) 888-4668 Cell: (208) 631-2481 Fax: (208) 336-9882 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 31