2012 Nebraska Revised Statutes
Chapter 77 - REVENUE AND TAXATION
77-382 - Department; tax expenditure report; prepare; contents.

77-382. Department; tax expenditure report; prepare; contents.

(1) The department shall prepare a tax expenditure report describing (a) the basic provisions of the Nebraska tax laws, (b) the actual or estimated revenue loss caused by the exemptions, deductions, exclusions, deferrals, credits, and preferential rates in effect on July 1 of each year and allowed under Nebraska's tax structure and in the property tax, and (c) the elements which make up the tax base for state and local income, including income, sales and use, property, and miscellaneous taxes.

(2) The department shall review the major tax exemptions for which state general funds are used to reduce the impact of revenue lost due to a tax expenditure. The report shall indicate an estimate of the amount of the reduction in revenue resulting from the operation of all tax expenditures. The report shall list each tax expenditure relating to sales and use tax under the following categories:

(a) Agriculture, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Agricultural machinery; agricultural chemicals; seeds sold to commercial producers; water for irrigation and manufacturing; commercial artificial insemination; mineral oil as dust suppressant; animal grooming; oxygen for use in aquaculture; animal life whose products constitute food for human consumption; and grains;

(b) Business across state lines, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Property shipped out-of-state; fabrication labor for items to be shipped out-of-state; property to be transported out-of-state; property purchased in other states to be used in Nebraska; aircraft delivery to an out-of-state resident or business; state reciprocal agreements for industrial machinery; and property taxed in another state;

(c) Common carrier and logistics, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Railroad rolling stock and repair parts and services; common or contract carriers and repair parts and services; common or contract carrier accessories; and common or contract carrier safety equipment;

(d) Consumer goods, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Motor vehicles and motorboat trade-ins; merchandise trade-ins; certain medical equipment and medicine; newspapers; laundromats; telefloral deliveries; motor vehicle discounts for the disabled; and political campaign fundraisers;

(e) Energy, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Motor fuels; energy used in industry; energy used in agriculture; aviation fuel; and minerals, oil, and gas severed from real property;

(f) Food, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Food for home consumption; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; school lunches; meals sold by hospitals; meals sold by institutions at a flat rate; food for the elderly, handicapped, and Supplemental Security Income recipients; and meals sold by churches;

(g) General business, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Component and ingredient parts; manufacturing machinery; containers; film rentals; molds and dies; syndicated programming; intercompany sales; intercompany leases; sale of a business or farm machinery; and transfer of property in a change of business ownership;

(h) Lodging and shelter, which shall include a separate listing for the following item: Room rentals by certain institutions;

(i) Miscellaneous, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Cash discounts and coupons; separately stated finance charges; casual sales; lease-to-purchase agreements; and separately stated taxes;

(j) Nonprofits, governments, and exempt entities, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Purchases by political subdivisions of the state; purchases by churches and nonprofit colleges and medical facilities; purchasing agents for public real estate construction improvements; contractor as purchasing agent for public agencies; Nebraska lottery; admissions to school events; sales on Native American Indian reservations; school-supporting fundraisers; fine art purchases by a museum; purchases by the Nebraska State Fair Board; purchases by the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority and licensees of the State Racing Commission; purchases by the United States Government; public records; and sales by religious organizations;

(k) Recent sales tax expenditures, which shall include a separate listing for each sales tax expenditure created by statute or rule and regulation after July 19, 2012; and

(l) Telecommunications, which shall include a separate listing for the following items: Telecommunications access charges; prepaid calling arrangements; conference bridging services; and nonvoice data services.

(3) The report shall make recommendations relating to the elimination, in whole or in part, of particular tax expenditures or to the limiting of the duration of particular tax expenditures to a fixed number of years.

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in the Tax Expenditure Reporting Act shall cause the valuation or assessment of any property exempt from taxation on the basis of its use exclusively for religious, educational, or charitable purposes.