August 15, 2012, Introduced by Rep. Opsommer and referred to the Committee on Transportation.
A bill to amend 1933 PA 167, entitled
"General sales tax act,"
by amending section 6a (MCL 205.56a), as amended by 2008 PA 556.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 6a. (1) At the time of purchase or shipment from a
refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or marine terminal operator, a
purchaser
or receiver of gasoline fuel
shall prepay a portion of
the tax imposed by this act at the rate provided in this section to
the refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or marine terminal
operator
for the purchase or receipt of gasoline fuel. If the
purchase
or receipt of gasoline fuel
is made outside this state for
shipment into and subsequent sale within this state, the purchaser
or receiver, other than a refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or
marine terminal operator, shall make the prepayment required by
this section directly to the department. Prepayments for gasoline
shall be made at a cents-per-gallon rate determined by the
department and shall be based on 6% of the statewide average retail
price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded regular gasoline as
determined and certified by the department rounded up to the
nearest 1/10 of 1 cent. Prepayments for diesel fuel shall be made
at a cents-per-gallon rate determined by the department and shall
be based on 6% of the statewide average retail price of a gallon of
undyed No. 2 ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel as determined and
certified by the department rounded up to the nearest 1/10 of 1
cent.
A person who that makes
prepayments directly to the
department shall make those prepayments according to the schedule
in subsection (4).
(2) The rate of prepayment applied pursuant to subsection (1)
shall
be determined every 3 months month
by the department. unless
the
department certifies that the change in the statewide average
retail
price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded regular gasoline
has
been less than 10% since the establishment of the rate of
prepayment
then in effect.The department
shall publish notice of
the rate of prepayment applicable to gasoline and diesel fuel not
later than the tenth day of the month immediately preceding the
month in which the rate is effective.
(3)
A person subject to tax under this act who that makes
prepayment to another person as required by this section may claim
an estimated prepayment credit on its regular monthly return filed
pursuant to section 6. The credit shall be for prepayments made
during the month for which the return is required and shall be
based upon the difference between prepayments made in the
immediately preceding month and collections of prepaid tax received
from sales or transfers. A sale or transfer for which collection of
prepaid tax is due the taxpayer is subject to a bad debt deduction
under section 4i, whether or not the sale or transfer is a sale at
retail. The credit shall not be reduced because of actual
shrinkage.
A taxpayer who that does not, in the ordinary course of
business, sell
gasoline fuel in each month of the year , may, with
the approval of the department, base the initial prepayment
deduction in each tax year on prepayments made in a month other
than the immediately preceding month. The difference in actual
prepayments shall be reconciled on the annual return in accordance
with procedures prescribed by the department.
(4) Notwithstanding the other provisions for the payment and
remitting of tax due under this act, a refiner, pipeline terminal
operator, or marine terminal operator shall account for and remit
to the department the prepayments received pursuant to this section
in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) On or before the twenty-fifth of each month, prepayments
received after the end of the preceding month and before the
sixteenth of the month in which the prepayments are made.
(b) On or before the tenth of each month, payments received
after the fifteenth and before the end of the preceding month.
(5) A refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or marine terminal
operator
who that fails to remit prepayments made by a purchaser or
receiver
of gasoline fuel is subject to the penalties provided by
1941 PA 122, MCL 205.1 to 205.31.
(6) The refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or marine
terminal operator shall not receive a deduction under section 4 for
receiving and remitting prepayments from a purchaser or receiver
pursuant to this section.
(7)
The purchaser or receiver of gasoline who fuel that makes
prepayments is not subject to further liability for the amount of
the prepayment if the refiner, pipeline terminal operator, or
marine terminal operator fails to remit the prepayment.
(8) A person subject to tax under this act that makes
prepayment to another person as required by this section for diesel
fuel may claim an estimated prepayment credit on its regular
monthly return filed pursuant to section 6. The credit shall be for
prepayments made during the month in which the return is required
and shall be based upon the difference between the prepayments made
in the immediately preceding month and collections of prepaid tax
received from sales or transfers during the month for which the
return required under section 6 is made. A taxpayer that does not,
in the ordinary course of business, sell diesel fuel in each month
of the year may, with the approval of the department, base the
initial prepayment deduction in each tax year on prepayments made
in a month other than the immediately preceding month. Estimated
prepayment credits claimed with the return due in January 2013
shall be based on the taxpayer's retail sales of diesel fuel in
December 2012. The difference in actual prepayments shall be
reconciled on the annual return in accordance with procedures
prescribed by the department. Repayment of the credit shall be made
by the earlier of the date that the taxpayer stops selling diesel
fuel or July 15, 2013.
(9) (8)
As used in this section:
(a) "Blendstock" includes all of the following:
(i) Any petroleum product component of fuel, such as naphtha,
reformate, or toluene.
(ii) Any oxygenate that can be blended for use in a motor fuel.
(b) "Boat terminal transfer" means a dock, a tank, or
equipment contiguous to a dock or a tank, including equipment used
in the unloading of fuel from a ship and in transferring the fuel
to a tank pending wholesale bulk reshipment.
(c) "Diesel fuel" means any liquid other than gasoline that is
capable of use as a fuel or a component of a fuel in a motor
vehicle that is propelled by a diesel-powered engine or in a
diesel-powered train. Diesel fuel includes number 1 and number 2
fuel oils and mineral spirits. Diesel fuel also includes any
blendstock or additive that is sold for blending with diesel fuel
and any liquid prepared, advertised, offered for sale, sold for use
as, or used in the generation of power for the propulsion of a
diesel-powered engine, airplane, or marine vessel. An additive or
blendstock is presumed to be sold for blending unless a
certification is obtained for federal purposes that the substance
is for a use other than blending for diesel fuel. Diesel fuel does
not include dyed diesel fuel, kerosene, or an excluded liquid.
(d) "Dyed diesel fuel" means diesel fuel that is dyed in
accordance with internal revenue service rules or pursuant to any
other internal revenue service requirements, including any
invisible marker requirements.
(e) "Excluded liquid" means that term as defined in 26 CFR
48.4081-1.
(f) "Fuel" means gasoline and diesel fuel that is subject to
tax under this act, collectively, except when diesel fuel is
referred to separately.
(g) "Gasoline" means and includes gasoline, alcohol, gasohol,
casing head or natural gasoline, benzol, benzine, naphtha,
methanol, any blendstock additive, or other product that is sold
for blending with gasoline or for use on the road, other than
products typically sold in containers of less than 5 gallons.
Gasoline also includes a liquid prepared, advertised, offered for
sale, sold for use as, or used in the generation of power for the
propulsion of a motor vehicle, airplane, or marine vessel,
including a product obtained by blending together any 1 or more
products of petroleum, with or without another product, and
regardless of the original character of the petroleum products
blended, if the product obtained by the blending is capable of use
in the generation of power for the propulsion of a motor vehicle,
airplane, or marine vessel. The blending of all of the above-named
products, regardless of their name or characteristics, shall
conclusively be presumed to have been done to produce fuel, unless
the product obtained by the blending is entirely incapable of use
as fuel. An additive or blendstock is presumed to be sold for
blending unless a certification is obtained for federal purposes
that the substance is for a use other than blending for gasoline.
Gasoline does not include diesel fuel, dyed diesel fuel, or an
excluded liquid.
(h) "Kerosene" means all grades of kerosene, including, but
not limited to, the 2 grades of kerosene, No. 1-K and No. 2-K,
commonly known as K-1 kerosene and K-2 kerosene, respectively,
described in American society for testing and materials
specification D-3699, in effect on January 1, 1999, and kerosene-
type jet fuel described in American society for testing and
materials specification D-1655 and military specifications MIL-T-
5624r and MIL-T-83133d (grades jp-5 and jp-8), and any successor
internal revenue service rules or regulations, as the specification
for kerosene and kerosene-type jet fuel. Kerosene does not include
an excluded liquid.
(i) (a)
"Marine terminal
operator" means a person who that
stores
gasoline fuel at a boat terminal transfer. defined
as a
dock,
a tank, or equipment contiguous to a dock or a tank,
including
equipment used in the unloading of gasoline from a ship
and
in transferring the gasoline to a tank pending wholesale bulk
reshipment.
(j) (b)
"Pipeline terminal
operator" means a person who that
stores
gasoline fuel in tanks and equipment used in receiving and
storing
gasoline fuel from interstate and intrastate pipelines
pending wholesale bulk reshipment.
(k) (c)
"Purchase" or
"shipment" does not include an exchange
of
gasoline, fuel or an exchange transaction , between refiners,
pipeline terminal operators, or marine terminal operators.
(l) (d)
"Refiner" means a person who
that manufactures or
produces
gasoline fuel by any process involving substantially more
than
the blending of gasoline.fuel.