Successful Tennessee Session Wraps Up for the Year
The first year of the 112th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned the evening of Wednesday, May 5. Republican Gov. Bill Lee and legislative leadership from the supermajority party accomplished several policy victories including unemployment insurance reform, permitless handgun carry and criminal justice reform. The legislature approved a $42.6 billion budget with significant new investments in rural broadband expansion, a $250 million mental health trust fund for students, raises for teachers and a $100 million investment in the state’s rainy-day fund. The session was a successful one for TSCPA’s advocacy efforts as our lobbying team worked to pass a tax clarification bill, monitored tax administration bills and intervened on other proposals. Below are just a few of the bills our team worked on:
SB 874/HB 1191 – This TSCPA-backed bill exempts recorded online continuing education courses offered by professional associations that meet regulatory requirements from the sales and use tax, similar to other continuing education courses. We want to thank our lobbying team as well as the bill sponsors, Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) and Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville), for their efforts in successfully passing this legislation.
SB 775/HB 776 – This bill, which was part of the governor’s legislative package, establishes that funds received through the coronavirus relief fund are exempt from excise and tax calculations. The bill has been signed into law and is effective April 14, 2021.
SB 756/HB 84 – This bill, brought to the sponsors by the Department of Revenue, tolls the statute of limitations for collection of taxes during a bankruptcy stay or during a probate, receivership, or other proceeding where collection is prohibited. The bill has been signed into law and is effective April 22, 2021.
SB 1274/HB 38 – This bill creates certain protections for taxpayers relying on guidance issued by the Department of Revenue. The bill provides that if a taxpayer receives erroneous audit findings or advice from the Department of Revenue, then the taxpayer is not liable for any assessment of additional tax, interest, or penalty attributable to the erroneous finding or advice if certain conditions are satisfied. The new law will be effective on July 1, 2021.
SB 883/HB 913 – This bill allows for sales or use taxes collected from a customer by a dealer to be refunded to the customer if the customer requested a refund and the dealer failed to issue the refund and other criteria are met. The amount of the claim for the refund must exceed $2,000 per dealer. This bill also passed and will be effective Oct. 1, 2021.
Be on the lookout for a more extensive report and impact analysis on bills from the session in the July/August edition of the Tennessee CPA Journal. We want to pass on a special thanks to our lobbying team at Butler Snow and to all of our legislative and stakeholder partners at the Capitol for another successful session. We also want to thank our generous members who contribute to TCPA/PAC. Our advocacy efforts would not be possible without your support. Thank you!