A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to increase the privilege tax on attorneys to support the North Carolina Public Campaign Financing Fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 105‑41 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105‑41.  Attorneys‑at‑law and other professionals.
(a)	Every individual in this State who practices a profession or engages in a business and is included in the list below must obtain from the Secretary a statewide license for the privilege of practicing the profession or engaging in the business. A license required by this section is not transferable to another person. The tax for each license is fifty dollars ($50.00).
	
(2)	A physician, a veterinarian, a surgeon, an osteopath, a chiropractor, a chiropodist, a dentist, an ophthalmologist, an optician, an optometrist, or another person who practices a professional art of healing.
(3)	A professional engineer, as defined in G.S. 89C‑3.
(4)	A registered land surveyor, as defined in G.S. 89C‑3.
(5)	An architect.
(6)	A landscape architect.
(7)	A photographer, a canvasser for any photographer, or an agent of a photographer in transmitting photographs to be copied, enlarged, or colored.
(8)	A real estate broker or a real estate salesman, as defined in G.S. 93A‑2. A real estate broker or a real estate salesman who is also a real estate appraiser is required to obtain only one license under this section to cover both activities.
(9)	A real estate appraiser, as defined in G.S. 93E‑1‑4. A real estate appraiser who is also a real estate broker or a real estate salesman is required to obtain only one license under this section to cover both activities.
(10)	A person who solicits or negotiates loans on real estate as agent for another for a commission, brokerage, or other compensation.
(11)	A mortician or embalmer licensed under G.S. 90‑210.25.
(a1)	Every individual in this State who practices law must obtain from the Secretary a statewide license for the privilege of practicing law. A license required by this section is not transferable to another person. The tax for each license is one hundred dollars ($100.00). Fifty percent (50%) of the amount collected under this subsection must be transferred to the North Carolina Public Campaign Financing Fund established under G.S. 163‑273.63.
(b)	The following persons are exempt from the tax:
(1)	A person who is at least 75 years old.
(2)	A person practicing the professional art of healing for a fee or reward, if the person is an adherent of an established church or religious organization and confines the healing practice to prayer or spiritual means.
(3)	A blind person engaging in a trade or profession as a sole proprietor. A "blind person" means any person who is totally blind or whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses, or where the widest diameter of visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees. This exemption shall not extend to any sole proprietor who permits more than one person other than the proprietor to work regularly in connection with the trade or profession for remuneration or recompense of any kind, unless the other person in excess of one so remunerated is a blind person.
(c)	Every person engaged in the public practice of accounting as a principal, or as a manager of the business of public accountant, shall pay for such license fifty dollars ($50.00), and in addition shall pay a license of twelve dollars and fifty cents ($12.50) for each person employed who is engaged in the capacity of supervising or handling the work of auditing, devising or installing systems of accounts.
(d)	Repealed by Session Laws 1998‑95, s. 7, effective July 1, 1999.
(e)	Licenses issued under this section are issued as personal privilege licenses and shall not be issued in the name of a firm or corporation. A licensed photographer having a located place of business in this State is liable for a license tax on each agent or solicitor employed by the photographer for soliciting business. If any person engages in more than one of the activities for which a privilege tax is levied by this section, the person is liable for a privilege tax with respect to each activity engaged in.
(f)	Repealed by Session Laws 1981, c. 17.
(g)	Repealed by Session Laws 1998‑95, s. 7, effective July 1, 1999.
(h)	Counties and cities may not levy any license tax on the business or professions taxed under this section.
(i)	Obtaining a license required by this Article does not of itself authorize the practice of a profession, business, or trade for which a State qualification license is required."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑278.63(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Sources of Funding. – Money received from all the following sources must be deposited in the Fund:
(1)	Money from the North Carolina Candidates Financing Fund.
(2)	Designations made to the Public Campaign Financing Fund by individual taxpayers pursuant to G.S. 105‑159.2.
(3)	Fifty percent (50%) of the privilege tax paid by attorneys in accordance with G.S. 105‑41(a1).
(4)	Public Campaign Financing Fund revenues distributed for an election that remain unspent or uncommitted at the time the recipient is no longer a certified candidate in the election.
(5)	Money ordered returned to the Public Campaign Financing Fund in accordance with G.S. 163‑278.70.
(6)	Voluntary donations made directly to the Public Campaign Financing Fund. Corporations, other business entities, labor unions, and professional associations may make donations to the Fund."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2004, and applies to taxes due on or after that date.