Bill Text: CT SB00598 | 2013 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Eliminating The Real Estate Conveyance Tax Payable To The State.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-06 - Change of Reference, House to Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding [SB00598 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2013-SB00598-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 598
January Session, 2013		LCO No. 1204
		*01204_______INS*
Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
Introduced by:
(INS)

AN ACT ELIMINATING THE REAL ESTATE CONVEYANCE TAX PAYABLE TO THE STATE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 12-494 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date):

(a) There is imposed a tax on each deed, instrument or writing, whereby any lands, tenements or other realty is granted, assigned, transferred or otherwise conveyed to, or vested in, the purchaser, or any other person by such purchaser's direction, when the consideration for the interest or property conveyed equals or exceeds two thousand dollars, [(1) subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, at the rate of three-quarters of one per cent of the consideration for the interest in real property conveyed by such deed, instrument or writing, the revenue from which shall be remitted by the town clerk of the municipality in which such tax is paid, not later than ten days following receipt thereof, to the Commissioner of Revenue Services for deposit to the credit of the state General Fund, and (2)] at the rate of one-fourth of one per cent of the consideration for the interest in real property conveyed by such deed, instrument or writing, provided the amount imposed under this subdivision shall become part of the general revenue of the municipality in accordance with section 12-499, as amended by this act.

[(b) The rate of tax imposed under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section shall, in lieu of the rate under said subdivision (1), be imposed on certain conveyances as follows: (1) In the case of any conveyance of real property which at the time of such conveyance is used for any purpose other than residential use, except unimproved land, the tax under said subdivision (1) shall be imposed at the rate of one and one-quarter per cent of the consideration for the interest in real property conveyed; (2) in the case of any conveyance in which the real property conveyed is a residential estate, including a primary dwelling and any auxiliary housing or structures, regardless of the number of deeds, instruments or writings used to convey such residential real estate, for which the consideration or aggregate consideration, as the case may be, in such conveyance is eight hundred thousand dollars or more, the tax under said subdivision (1) shall be imposed (A) at the rate of three-quarters of one per cent on that portion of such consideration up to and including the amount of eight hundred thousand dollars, and (B) at the rate of one and one-quarter per cent on that portion of such consideration in excess of eight hundred thousand dollars; and (3) in the case of any conveyance in which real property on which mortgage payments have been delinquent for not less than six months is conveyed to a financial institution or its subsidiary which holds such a delinquent mortgage on such property, the tax under said subdivision (1) shall be imposed at the rate of three-quarters of one per cent of the consideration for the interest in real property conveyed. For the purposes of subdivision (1) of this subsection, "unimproved land" includes land designated as farm, forest or open space land.]

[(c)] (b) In addition to the tax imposed under subsection (a) of this section, any targeted investment community, as defined in section 32-222, or any municipality in which properties designated as manufacturing plants under section 32-75c are located, may, on or after March 15, 2003, impose an additional tax on each deed, instrument or writing, whereby any lands, tenements or other realty is granted, assigned, transferred or otherwise conveyed to, or vested in, the purchaser, or any other person by his direction, when the consideration for the interest or property conveyed equals or exceeds two thousand dollars, which additional tax shall be at a rate of up to one-fourth of one per cent of the consideration for the interest in real property conveyed by such deed, instrument or writing. The revenue from such additional tax shall become part of the general revenue of the municipality in accordance with section 12-499, as amended by this act.

Sec. 2. Section 12-498 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date):

[(a)] The tax imposed by section 12-494, as amended by this act, shall not apply to: (1) Deeds which this state is prohibited from taxing under the Constitution or laws of the United States; (2) deeds which secure a debt or other obligation; (3) deeds to which this state or any of its political subdivisions or its or their respective agencies is a party; (4) tax deeds; (5) deeds of release of property which is security for a debt or other obligation; (6) deeds of partition; (7) deeds made pursuant to mergers of corporations; (8) deeds made by a subsidiary corporation to its parent corporation for no consideration other than the cancellation or surrender of the subsidiary's stock; (9) deeds made pursuant to a decree of the Superior Court under section 46b-81, 49-24 or 52-495; (10) deeds, when the consideration for the interest or property conveyed is less than two thousand dollars; (11) deeds between affiliated corporations, provided both of such corporations are exempt from taxation pursuant to paragraph (2), (3) or (25) of Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended; (12) deeds made by a corporation which is exempt from taxation pursuant to paragraph (3) of Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, to any corporation which is exempt from taxation pursuant to said paragraph (3) of said Section 501(c); (13) deeds made to any nonprofit organization which is organized for the purpose of holding undeveloped land in trust for conservation or recreation purposes; (14) deeds between spouses; (15) deeds of property for the Adriaen's Landing site or the stadium facility site, for purposes of the overall project, each as defined in section 32-651; (16) land transfers made on or after July 1, 1998, to a water company, as defined in section 16-1, provided the land is classified as class I or class II land, as defined in section 25-37c, after such transfer; (17) transfers or conveyances to effectuate a mere change of identity or form of ownership or organization, where there is no change in beneficial ownership; (18) conveyances of residential property which occur not later than six months after the date on which the property was previously conveyed to the transferor if the transferor is (A) an employer which acquired the property from an employee pursuant to an employee relocation plan, or (B) an entity in the business of purchasing and selling residential property of employees who are being relocated pursuant to such a plan; (19) deeds in lieu of foreclosure that transfer the transferor's principal residence; and (20) any instrument transferring a transferor's principal residence where the gross purchase price is insufficient to pay the sum of (A) mortgages encumbering the property transferred, and (B) any real property taxes and municipal utility or other charges for which the municipality may place a lien on the property and which have priority over the mortgages encumbering the property transferred.

[(b) The tax imposed by subdivision (1) of section 12-494 shall not apply to (1) deeds of the principal residence of any person approved for assistance under section 12-129b or 12-170aa for the current assessment year of the municipality in which such person resides or to any such transfer which occurs within fifteen months of the completion of any municipal assessment year for which such person qualified for such assistance; (2) deeds of property located in an area designated as an enterprise zone in accordance with section 32-70; (3) deeds of property located in an entertainment district designated under section 32-76 or established under section 2 of public act 93-311.]

Sec. 3. Section 12-499 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date):

The tax imposed by section 12-494, as amended by this act, and the revenues produced thereby shall [, after remitting the portion thereof payable to the Commissioner of Revenue Services as provided in said section 12-494,] become part of the general revenue of the municipality in which the tax is paid except that, in municipalities where the town clerk is paid from fees, such town clerk shall retain one dollar of the tax for each deed, instrument or writing recorded, the value of the property or interest of which is two thousand dollars or more. Each town clerk shall remit at least monthly all revenues due to the municipality under this chapter.

Sec. 4. Section 32-650a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

The use of the term "Adriaen's Landing" in this chapter, subdivision (1) of section 12-412 and [subsection (a) of] section 12-498, as amended by this act, is for convenience and shall not be construed to require that the improvements within the capital city economic development district which are contemplated by this chapter, subdivision (1) of section 12-412 and [subsection (a) of] section 12-498, as amended by this act, bear that name.

Sec. 5. Subdivision (22) of section 32-651 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(22) "Overall project" means the convention center project, the stadium facility project and the parking project, or one or more of the foregoing as more particularly described in the master development plan, including all related planning, feasibility, environmental testing and assessment, permitting, engineering, technical and other necessary development activities, including site acquisition, site preparation and infrastructure improvements. As used in sections 32-664, 32-665 and 32-668, and subdivision (1) of section 12-412, [subsection (a) of] section 12-498, as amended by this act, and subdivision (1) of section 22a-134, and section 32-617a, "overall project" also includes the development, design, construction, finishing, furnishing and equipping of the on-site related private development.

Sec. 6. Subsection (i) of section 32-656 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(i) The secretary and the authority shall jointly select and appoint an independent construction contract compliance officer or agent, which may be an officer or agency of a political subdivision of the state, other than the authority, or a private consultant experienced in similar public contract compliance matters, to monitor compliance by the secretary, the authority, the project manager and each prime construction contractor with the provisions of applicable state law, including subdivision (1) of section 12-412, [subsection (a) of] section 12-498, as amended by this act, sections 12-541 and 13a-25, subdivision (1) of section 22a-134, section 32-600, subsection (d) of section 32-602, subsection (d) of section 32-605, section 32-610, subsections (a) and (b) of section 32-614, sections 32-617, 32-617a, 32-650, 32-651 to 32-658, inclusive, as amended by this act, 32-660 and 32-661, subsection (b) of section 32-662, section 32-663, subsections (j) to (l), inclusive, of section 32-664, sections 32-665 to 32-666a, inclusive, sections 32-668 and 48-21 and sections 29 and 30 of public act 00-140, and with applicable requirements of contracts with the secretary or the authority, relating to set-asides for small contractors and minority business enterprises and required efforts to hire available and qualified members of minorities and available and qualified residents of the city of Hartford and the town of East Hartford for construction jobs with respect to the overall project and the on-site related private development. Such independent contract compliance officer or agent shall file a written report of his or her findings and recommendations with the secretary and the authority each quarter during the period of project development.

Sec. 7. Sections 3-114m, 12-494a, 12-502a and 12-502b of the general statutes are repealed. (Effective July 1, 2013)

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date	12-494
Sec. 2	July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date	12-498
Sec. 3	July 1, 2013, and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after said date	12-499
Sec. 4	July 1, 2013	32-650a
Sec. 5	July 1, 2013	32-651(22)
Sec. 6	July 1, 2013	32-656(i)
Sec. 7	July 1, 2013	Repealer section

Statement of Purpose:

To eliminate the real estate conveyance tax payable to the state.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]