Areas of critical state concern; tourist impact tax.

(1)(a) Subject to the provisions of this section, any county creating a land authority pursuant to s. 380.0663(1) is authorized to levy by ordinance, in the area or areas within said county designated as an area of critical state concern pursuant to chapter 380, a tourist impact tax on the taxable privileges described in paragraph (b); however, if the area or areas of critical state concern are greater than 50 percent of the land area of the county, the tax may be levied throughout the entire county. Such tax shall not be effective unless and until land development regulations and a local comprehensive plan that meet the requirements of chapter 380 have become effective and such tax is approved by referendum as provided for in subsection (5).

(b)1. It is declared to be the intent of the Legislature that every person who rents, leases, or lets for consideration any living quarters or accommodations in any hotel, apartment hotel, motel, resort motel, apartment, apartment motel, roominghouse, mobile home park, recreational vehicle park, condominium, or timeshare resort for a term of 6 months or less, unless such establishment is exempt from the tax imposed by s. 212.03, is exercising a taxable privilege on the proceeds therefrom under this section.

2.a. Tax shall be due on the consideration paid for occupancy in the county pursuant to a regulated short-term product, as defined in s. 721.05, or occupancy in the county pursuant to a product that would be deemed a regulated short-term product if the agreement to purchase the short-term right were executed in this state. Such tax shall be collected on the last day of occupancy within the county unless such consideration is applied to the purchase of a timeshare estate. The occupancy of an accommodation of a timeshare resort pursuant to a timeshare plan, a multisite timeshare plan, or an exchange transaction in an exchange program, as defined in s. 721.05, by the owner of a timeshare interest or such owner’s guest, which guest is not paying monetary consideration to the owner or to a third party for the benefit of the owner, is not a privilege subject to taxation under this section. A membership or transaction fee paid by a timeshare owner that does not provide the timeshare owner with the right to occupy any specific timeshare unit but merely provides the timeshare owner with the opportunity to exchange a timeshare interest through an exchange program is a service charge and not subject to taxation under this section.

b. Consideration paid for the purchase of a timeshare license in a timeshare plan, as defined in s. 721.05, is rent subject to taxation under this section.

(c) The governing board of the county may, by passage of a resolution by four-fifths vote, repeal such tax.

(d) The tourist impact tax shall be levied at the rate of 1 percent of each dollar and major fraction thereof of the total consideration charged for such taxable privilege. When receipt of consideration is by way of property other than money, the tax shall be levied and imposed on the fair market value of such nonmonetary consideration.

(e) The tourist impact tax shall be in addition to any other tax imposed pursuant to chapter 212 and in addition to all other taxes and fees and the consideration for the taxable privilege.

(f) The tourist impact tax shall be charged by the person receiving the consideration for the taxable privilege, and it shall be collected from the lessee, tenant, or customer at the time of payment of the consideration for such taxable privilege.

(g) A county that has levied the tourist impact tax authorized by this section in an area or areas designated as an area of critical state concern for at least 20 consecutive years prior to removal of the designation may continue to levy the tourist impact tax in accordance with this section for 20 years following removal of the designation. After expiration of the 20-year period, a county may continue to levy the tourist impact tax authorized by this section if the county adopts an ordinance reauthorizing levy of the tax and the continued levy of the tax is approved by referendum as provided for in subsection (5).

(2)(a) The person receiving the consideration for such taxable privilege and the person doing business within such area or areas of critical state concern or within the entire county, as applicable, shall receive, account for, and remit the tourist impact tax to the Department of Revenue at the time and in the manner provided for persons who collect and remit taxes under chapter 212. The same duties and privileges imposed by chapter 212 upon dealers in tangible property, respecting the collection and remission of tax; the making of returns; the keeping of books, records, and accounts; and compliance with the rules of the Department of Revenue in the administration of that chapter shall apply to and be binding upon all persons who are subject to the provisions of this section. However, the Department of Revenue may authorize a quarterly return and payment when the tax remitted by the dealer for the preceding quarter did not exceed $25.

(b) The Department of Revenue shall keep records showing the amount of taxes collected, which records shall also include records disclosing the amount of taxes collected for and from each county in which the tax imposed and authorized by this section is applicable. These records shall be open for inspection during the regular office hours of the Department of Revenue, subject to the provisions of s. 213.053.

(c) Collections received by the Department of Revenue from the tax, less costs of administration of this section, shall be paid and returned monthly to the county and the land authority in accordance with the provisions of subsection (3).

(d) The Department of Revenue is authorized to employ persons and incur other expenses for which funds are appropriated by the Legislature.

(e) The Department of Revenue is empowered to promulgate such rules and prescribe and publish such forms as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. The department is authorized to establish audit procedures and to assess for delinquent taxes.

(f) The estimated tax provisions contained in s. 212.11 do not apply to the administration of any tax levied under this section.

(3) All tax revenues received pursuant to this section, less administrative costs, shall be distributed as follows:

(a) Fifty percent shall be transferred to the land authority to be used in accordance with s. 380.0666 in the area of critical state concern for which the revenue is generated. An amount not to exceed 5 percent may be used for administration and other costs incident to the exercise of said powers.

(b) Fifty percent shall be distributed to the governing body of the county where the revenue was generated. Such proceeds shall be used to offset the loss of ad valorem taxes due to acquisitions provided for by this act.

(4)(a) Any person who is taxable hereunder who fails or refuses to charge and collect from the person paying for the taxable privilege the taxes herein provided, either by himself or herself or through agents or employees, is, in addition to being personally liable for the payment of the tax, guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(b) No person shall advertise or hold out to the public in any manner, directly or indirectly, that he or she will absorb all or any part of the tax; that he or she will relieve the person paying for the taxable privilege of the payment of all or any part of the tax; or that the tax will not be added to the consideration for the taxable privilege or that, when added, the tax or any part thereof will be refunded or refused, either directly or indirectly, by any method whatsoever. Any person who willfully violates any provision of this paragraph is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(c) The tax authorized to be levied by this section shall constitute a lien on the property of the business, lessee, customer, or tenant in the same manner as, and shall be collectible as are, liens authorized and imposed in ss. 713.67, 713.68, and 713.69.

(5) The tourist impact tax authorized by this section shall take effect only upon express approval by a majority vote of those qualified electors in the area or areas of critical state concern in the county seeking to levy such tax, voting in a referendum to be held in conjunction with a general election, as defined in s. 97.021. However, if the area or areas of critical state concern are greater than 50 percent of the land area of the county and the tax is to be imposed throughout the entire county, the tax shall take effect only upon express approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the county voting in such a referendum. A referendum to reenact an expiring tourist impact tax must be held at a general election occurring within the 48-month period immediately preceding the effective date of the reenacted tax, and the referendum may appear on the ballot only once within the 48-month period.

(6) The effective date of the levy and imposition of the tourist impact tax authorized under this section shall be the first day of the second month following approval of the ordinance by referendum or the first day of any subsequent month as may be specified in the ordinance. A certified copy of the ordinance shall include the time period and the effective date of the tax levy and shall be furnished by the county to the Department of Revenue within 10 days after passing an ordinance levying such tax and again within 10 days after approval by referendum of such tax. If applicable, the county levying the tax shall provide the Department of Revenue with a list of the businesses in the area of critical state concern where the tourist impact tax is levied by zip code or other means of identification. Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 213.053, the Department of Revenue shall assist the county in compiling such list of businesses. The tourist impact tax, if not repealed sooner pursuant to paragraph (1)(c), shall be repealed 10 years after the date the area of critical state concern designation is removed.