Effective 09 Jul 2019, see footnote

190.460. Prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge — definitions — amount, how collected — deposit and use of moneys — rates, how set — effective date. — 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) "Board", the Missouri 911 service board established under section 650.325;

(2) "Consumer", a person who purchases prepaid wireless telecommunications service in a retail transaction;

(3) "Department", the department of revenue;

(4) "Prepaid wireless service provider", a provider that provides prepaid wireless service to an end user;

(5) "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service", a wireless telecommunications service that allows a caller to dial 911 to access the 911 system and which service shall be paid for in advance and is sold in predetermined units or dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount;

(6) "Retail transaction", the purchase of prepaid wireless telecommunications service from a seller for any purpose other than resale. The purchase of more than one item that provides prepaid wireless telecommunication service, when such items are sold separately, constitutes more than one retail transaction;

(7) "Seller", a person who sells prepaid wireless telecommunications service to another person;

(8) "Wireless telecommunications service", commercial mobile radio service as defined by 47 CFR 20.3, as amended.

2. (1) Beginning January 1, 2019, there is hereby imposed a prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge on each retail transaction. The amount of such charge shall be equal to three percent of the amount of each retail transaction. The first fifteen dollars of each retail transaction shall not be subject to the service charge.

(2) When prepaid wireless telecommunications service is sold with one or more products or services for a single, nonitemized price, the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall apply to the entire nonitemized price unless the seller elects to apply such service charge in the following way:

(a) If the amount of the prepaid wireless telecommunications service is disclosed to the consumer as a dollar amount, three percent of such dollar amount; or

(b) If the seller can identify the portion of the price that is attributable to the prepaid wireless telecommunications service by reasonable and verifiable standards from the seller's books and records that are kept in the regular course of business for other purposes including, but not limited to, nontax purposes, three percent of such portion;

­­The first fifteen dollars of each transaction under this subdivision shall not be subject to the service charge.

(3) The prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge shall be collected by the seller from the consumer with respect to each retail transaction occurring in this state. The amount of the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge shall be either separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document that is provided to the consumer by the seller or otherwise disclosed to the consumer.

(4) For purposes of this subsection, a retail transaction that is effected in person by a consumer at a business location of the seller shall be treated as occurring in this state if that business location is in this state, and any other retail transaction shall be treated as occurring in this state if the retail transaction is treated as occurring under chapter 144.

(5) The prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge is the liability of the consumer and not of the seller or of any provider; except that, the seller shall be liable to remit all charges that the seller collects or is deemed to collect .

(6) The amount of the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge that is collected by a seller from a consumer, if such amount is separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document provided to the consumer by the seller, shall not be included in the base for measuring any tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge that is imposed by this state, any political subdivision of this state, or any intergovernmental agency.

3. (1) Prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges collected by sellers shall be remitted to the department at the times and in the manner provided by state law with respect to sales and use taxes. The department shall establish registration and payment procedures that substantially coincide with the registration and payment procedures that apply under state law. On or after the effective date of the service charge imposed under the provisions of this section, the director of the department of revenue shall perform all functions incident to the administration, collection, enforcement, and operation of the service charge, and the director shall collect, in addition to the sales tax for the state of Missouri, all additional service charges imposed in this section. All service charges imposed under this section together with all taxes imposed under the sales tax law of the state of Missouri shall be collected together and reported upon such forms and under such administrative rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the director. All applicable provisions contained in sections 144.010 to 144.525 governing the state sales tax and section 32.057 shall apply to the collection of any service charges imposed under this section except as modified.

(2) Beginning on January 1, 2019, and ending on January 31, 2019, when a consumer purchases prepaid wireless telecommunications service in a retail transaction from a seller under this section, the seller shall be allowed to retain one hundred percent of the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges that are collected by the seller from the consumer. Beginning on February 1, 2019, a seller shall be permitted to deduct and retain three percent of prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges that are collected by the seller from consumers.

(3) The department shall establish procedures by which a seller of prepaid wireless telecommunications service may document that a sale is not a retail transaction, which procedures shall substantially coincide with the procedures for documenting sale for resale transactions for sales and use purposes under state law.

(4) The department shall deposit all remitted prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges into the general revenue fund for the department's use until eight hundred thousand one hundred fifty dollars is collected to reimburse its direct costs of administering the collection and remittance of prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges. From then onward, the department shall deposit all remitted prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges into the Missouri 911 service trust fund created under section 190.420 within thirty days of receipt for use by the board. After the initial eight hundred thousand one hundred fifty dollars is collected, the department may deduct an amount not to exceed one percent of collected charges to be retained by the department to reimburse its direct costs of administering the collection and remittance of prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges.

(5) The board shall set a rate between twenty-five and one hundred percent of the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges deposited in the Missouri 911 service trust fund collected in counties without a charter form of government, less the deductions authorized in subdivision (4) of this subsection, that shall be remitted to such counties in direct proportion to the amount of charges collected in each county. The board shall set a rate between sixty-five and one hundred percent of the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charges deposited in the Missouri 911 service trust fund collected in counties with a charter form of government and any city not within a county, less the deductions authorized in subdivision (4) of this subsection, that shall be remitted to each such county or city not within a county in direct proportion to the amount of charges collected in each such county or city not within a county. If a county has an elected emergency services board, the Missouri 911 service board shall remit the funds to the elected emergency services board, except for an emergency services board originally organized under section 190.325 operating within a county with a charter form of government and with more than two hundred thousand but fewer than three hundred fifty thousand inhabitants, in which case the funds shall be remitted to the county's general fund for the purpose of public safety infrastructure. The initial percentage rate set by the board for counties with and without a charter form of government and any city not within a county shall be set by June thirtieth of each applicable year and may be adjusted annually for the first three years, and thereafter the rate may be adjusted every three years; however, at no point shall the board set rates that fall below twenty-five percent for counties without a charter form of government and sixty-five percent for counties with a charter form of government and any city not within a county.

(6) Any amounts received by a county or city under subdivision (5) of this subsection shall be used only for purposes authorized in sections 190.305, 190.325, and 190.335. Any amounts received by any county with a charter form of government and with more than six hundred thousand but fewer than seven hundred thousand inhabitants under this section may be used for emergency service notification systems.

4. (1) A seller that is not a provider shall be entitled to the immunity and liability protections under section 190.455, notwithstanding any requirement in state law regarding compliance with Federal Communications Commission Order 05-116.

(2) A provider shall be entitled to the immunity and liability protections under section 190.455.

(3) In addition to the protection from liability provided in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, each provider and seller and its officers, employees, assigns, agents, vendors, or anyone acting on behalf of such persons shall be entitled to the further protection from liability, if any, that is provided to providers and sellers of wireless telecommunications service that is not prepaid wireless telecommunications service under section 190.455.

5. The prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge imposed by this section shall be in addition to any other tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge imposed by this state, any political subdivision of this state, or any intergovernmental agency for 911 funding purposes.

6. The provisions of this section shall become effective unless the governing body of a county or city adopts an ordinance, order, rule, resolution, or regulation by at least a two-thirds vote prohibiting the charge established under this section from becoming effective in the county or city at least forty-five days prior to the effective date of this section*. If the governing body does adopt such ordinance, order, rule, resolution, or regulation by at least a two-thirds vote, the charge shall not be collected and the county or city shall not be allowed to obtain funds from the Missouri 911 service trust fund that are remitted to the fund under the charge established under this section. The Missouri 911 service board shall, by September 1, 2018, notify all counties and cities of the implementation of the charge established under this section, and the procedures set forth under this subsection for prohibiting the charge from becoming effective.

7. Any county or city which prohibited the prepaid wireless emergency telephone service charge pursuant to the provisions of subsection 6 of this section may take a vote of the governing body, and notify the department of revenue of the result of such vote, by November 15, 2019, to impose such charge effective January 1, 2020. A vote of at least two-thirds of the governing body is required in order to impose such charge. The department shall notify the board of notices received by December 1, 2019.

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(L. 2018 H.B. 1456, A.L. 2019 S.B. 291)

Effective 7-09-19

*This section in H.B. 1456, 2018, became effective August 28, 2018; however, the service charge did not begin until January 1, 2019, in accordance with subsections 2 and 3 of this section.