19449681, 12AER17-03 - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register

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Florida Department of State and Division of Library and Information Services

Notice: 19449681

Notice of Emergency Rule

Department:

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Division:

Sales and Use Tax

Overview

RULE:

12AER17-03

Exemption for Data Center Property

SPECIFIC REASONS FOR FINDING AN IMMEDIATE DANGER TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY OR WELFARE:

Section 213.06(2), Florida Statutes, provides an exception to the prerequisite of a finding of immediate danger to the public health, safety, or welfare of Florida citizens.  The statutory provision provides that the Department of Revenue is authorized to adopt an emergency rule, pursuant to Section 120.54, F.S., on behalf of the Department, when the effective date of a legislative change occurs sooner than 60 days after the close of the legislative session in which the change was enacted and when the change affects a tax rate or collection or reporting procedure that affects a substantial number of dealers or persons.  Section 26 of Chapter 2017-36, Laws of Florida, provides an exemption from sales tax for purchases of data center property by data center owners, tenants, and contractors, beginning July 1, 2017.  The rule provides exemption eligibility requirements, definitions of data center property, the application process, and procedures to document purchases of exempt data center property.   The emergency rule incorporates, by reference, Form DR-1214DCP, Application for Data Center Property Temporary Tax Exemption Certificate.

REASON FOR CONCLUDING THAT THE PROCEDURE IS FAIR UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES:

Emergency rulemaking is fair under the circumstances, as the effective date of the exemption for purchases of data center property is within 60 days after the close of the 2017 Legislative Session.   Additionally, the promulgation of this emergency rule ensures that dealers and taxpayers are notified in the most expedient and appropriate manner regarding the data center property exemption provisions of Section 26, Chapter 2017-36, Laws of Florida.

SUMMARY:

Emergency Rule 12AER17-03 notifies the general public, data center owners, data center tenants, data center contractors, and retailers of the exemption for purchases of data center property in Section 212.08(5)(s), F.S., which became effective July 1, 2017, provided by Section 26, Chapter 2017-36, Laws of Florida.   This emergency rule provides exemption requirements, definitions, and application procedures for data center owners.  The sales tax exemption for data center property applies to data center property used exclusively at a data center to construct, outfit, operate, support, power, cool, dehumidify, secure, or protect a data center and any contiguous dedicated substations when certain exemption requirements will be met.  The exemption requirements include that: the Data Center’s owners and tenants make a cumulative, minimum capital investment, after July 1, 2017, of $150 million for the data center; that the data center must have a critical IT load of 15 megawatts or higher; and, that each individual owner or tenant within the data center must have a dedicated critical IT load of 1 megawatt or higher.  The exemption requirements must be met within 5 years after the commencement of the construction of the data center.  The exemption applies to purchases of data center property, defined to include construction materials, component parts, machinery and equipment, computers, servers, installations, redundancies, software, and electricity used exclusively at a data center.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE EMERGENCY RULE IS:

Brinton Hevey 850-717-7082

PRINT PUBLISH DATE:

9/26/2017 Vol. 43/186

OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:

Joint Administrative Procedures Committee
Florida Administrative Law Central Online Network (F.A.L.C.O.N.)

RELATED COURT CASES:

Division of Administrative Hearings

FEDERAL eRULEMAKING
WEB PORTAL:

Regulations.gov

HOW TO LINK TO
THIS NOTICE:

http://flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=12AER17-03&PDate=9/26/2017&Section=4

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

No reference(s).

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