View Bill Status
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
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 - 2005
IN 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 year or before
11 April 15 in which the claimant was first filed a claim on the homestead in
12 question, a claimant must be an owner of a the 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 a land sale 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 property is was 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