A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make technical and clarifying changes to the revenue laws and related statutes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 105‑113.68(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Definitions. – As used in this Article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1)	ABC Commission. – The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission established under G.S. 18B‑200.
(2)	Repealed by Session Laws 2004‑170, s. 6, effective August 2, 2004.
(3)	ABC permit. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(4)	Alcoholic beverage. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(5)	Fortified wine. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(6)	License. – A certificate, issued pursuant to this Article by a city or county, that authorizes a person to engage in a phase of the alcoholic beverage industry.
(7)	Malt beverage. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(8)	Person. – Defined in G.S. 105‑228.90.
(9)	Sale. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(10)	Secretary. – The Secretary of Revenue.
(11)	Spirituous liquor or liquor. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(12)	Unfortified wine. – Defined in G.S. 18B‑101.
(13)	Wholesaler or importer. – When used with reference to wholesalers or importers of wine or malt beverages includes resident wineries that sell their wines at retail and resident breweries that produce fewer than 310,000 gallons of malt beverages per year.
(14)	Wine. – Unfortified and fortified wine.
(15)	Wine shipper permittee. – A winery that holds a wine shipper permit issued by the ABC Commission under G.S. 18B‑1001.1."
SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 18B‑101(15) reads as rewritten:
"(15)	'Unfortified wine' means any wine of sixteen percent (16%) or less alcohol by volume made by fermentation from grapes, fruits, berries, rice, or honey; or by the addition of pure cane, beet, or dextrose sugar; or by the addition of pure brandy from the same type of grape, fruit, berry, rice, or honey that is contained in the base wine and produced in accordance with the regulations of the United States."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 105‑129.8(a2) reads as rewritten:
"(a2)	Installments. – The credit may not be taken in the taxable year in which the additional employee is hired. Instead, the credit must be taken in equal installments over the four years following the taxable year in which the additional employee was hired and is conditioned on the taxpayer's continued employment in this State of the number of full‑time employees the taxpayer had upon hiring the employee that caused the taxpayer to qualify for the credit.
If, in one of the four years in which the installment of a credit accrues, the number of the taxpayer's full‑time employees in this State falls below the number of full‑time employees the taxpayer had in this State in the year in which the taxpayer qualified for the credit, the credit expires and the taxpayer may not take any remaining installment of the credit. The taxpayer may, however, take the portion of an installment that accrued in a previous year and was carried forward to the extent permitted under G.S. 105‑129.5."
SECTION 3.(a)  G.S. 105‑129.62(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Environmental Impact. – A taxpayer is eligible for the credit allowed under this Article with respect to a facility in this State only if as of the last day of the taxable year for which a credit or carryforward is claimed the taxpayer and the taxpayer's related entities and strategic partners whose employees are included in the taxpayer's increased employment level have no pending administrative, civil, or criminal enforcement actions based on alleged significant violations of any program implemented by an agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and have had no final determination of responsibility for any significant administrative, civil, or criminal violation of any program implemented by an agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources within the last five years. For the taxpayer's related entities and strategic partners, this subsection applies only to the activities of the related entity or strategic partner at the facility with respect to which a credit is claimed. A significant violation is a violation or alleged violation that does not satisfy any of the conditions of G.S. 143‑215.6B(d). Upon request, the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources must notify the Department of Revenue of whether a person currently has any of these pending actions or has had any of these final determinations within the last five years."
SECTION 3.(b)  G.S. 105‑129.62(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Safety and Health Programs. – A taxpayer is eligible for the credit allowed under this Article with respect to a facility in this State only if as of the last day of the taxable year for which a credit or carryforward is claimed the taxpayer and the taxpayer's related entities and strategic partners whose employees are included in the taxpayer's increased employment level have no citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act at the facility with respect to which the credit is claimed that have become a final order within the past three years for willful serious violations or for failing to abate serious violations. For the purposes of this subsection, "serious violation' has the same meaning as in G.S. 95‑127. Upon request, the Secretary of Labor must notify the Department of Revenue of whether a person has had these citations become final orders within the past three years."
SECTION 3.(c)  G.S. 105‑129.62(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Overdue Tax Debts. – A taxpayer is eligible for the credit allowed under this Article with respect to a facility only if as of the last day of the taxable year for which a credit or carryforward is claimed the taxpayer and the taxpayer's related entities and strategic partners whose employees are included in the taxpayer's increased employment level have no overdue tax debts that have not been satisfied or otherwise resolved."
SECTION 3.(d)  G.S. 105‑129.63 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105‑129.63.  Determination by the Secretary of Commerce.
The taxpayer must apply to the Secretary of Commerce for the determination required under G.S. 105‑129.62. The application must be made under oath and must provide any information the Secretary requires in order to make the determination. The determination by the Secretary of Commerce is a factual determination. The Secretary must make this determination in any case in which the taxpayer can demonstrate performance or can provide a credible plan for performance.
If the taxpayer fails to create the required number of new jobs or to make the required investment, the information provided by the taxpayer on the application proves to have been false at the time it was given, and the person making the application knew or should have known that the information was false, the taxpayer forfeits any credits claimed under this Article with respect to the facility. A taxpayer that forfeits a credit under this Article is liable for all past taxes avoided as a result of the credit plus interest at the rate established under G.S. 105‑241.1(i), computed from the date the taxes would have been due if the credit had not been allowed. The past taxes and interest are due 30 days after the date the credit is forfeited; a taxpayer that fails to pay the past taxes and interest by the due date is subject to the penalties provided in G.S. 105‑236." 
SECTION 4.(a)  G.S. 105‑164.14(j) is amended by adding a new sub‑subdivision to read:
"(5)	Sunset. – Sub‑subdivisions a., d., g., and m. of subdivision (3) of this subsection expire effective for sales made on or after July 1, 2009."
SECTION 4.(b)  Section 32B.5 of S.L. 2004‑124 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 32B.5.  The amendment to G.S. 105‑164.14(j)(2) made by this part is effective on and after January 1, 2004, and applies to sales made on or after that date. Sections 32B.2 and 32B.3 of this part become effective October 1, 2004, and apply to sales made on or after that date. Section 32B.4 of this part becomes effective July 1, 2005, and applies to sales made on or after that date.  The remainder of this part becomes effective July 1, 2004, and applies to sales made on or after that date. "
SECTION 5.  G.S. 105‑278.1(c)(2) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	For purposes of this section:
…
(2)	By way of illustration but not by way of limitation, the following boards, commissions, authorities, and institutions are units of State government:
a.	The State Marketing Authority established by G.S. 106‑529.
b.	The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina incorporated under the provisions of G.S. 116‑3 and known as "The University of North Carolina."
c.	The North Carolina Museum of Art made an agency of the State under G.S.  140‑5.12.
…."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 106‑516.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 106‑516.1.  Carnivals and similar amusements not to operate without permit.
Every person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of a carnival company or a show of like kind, including menageries, merry‑go‑rounds, Ferris wheels, riding devices, circus and similar amusements and enterprises operated and conducted for profit, shall, prior to exhibiting in any county annually staging an agricultural fair, apply to the sheriff of the county in which the exhibit is to be held for a permit to exhibit. The sheriff of the county shall issue a permit without charge; provided, however, that no permit shall be issued if he shall find the requested exhibition date is less than 30 days prior to a regularly advertised agriculturalfair. Exhibition without a permit from the sheriff of the county in which the exhibition is to be held shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor:  Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall prevent veterans' organizations and posts chartered by Congress or organized and operated on a statewide or nationwide basis from holding fairs or tobacco festivals on any dates which they may select if such fairs or festivals have heretofore been held as annual events."
SECTION 7.  G.S. 146‑22.5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 146‑22.5.  Reimbursement of payment in lieu of future ad valorem taxes.
(a)	If a State agency acquires land under G.S. 146‑22.3 or G.S. 146‑22.4 and later uses this land to mitigate wetlands permitted to be lost in the same county, then the county shall reimburse the State agency. The reimbursement shall equal the estimated amount of ad valorem taxes paid for the land in accordance with G.S. 146‑22.3 minus ten percent (10%) of this amount multiplied by the number of years the State agency held the land before the wetlands were lost.
(b)	Application. – This section applies only to land acquired in counties designated as an enterprise tier one or enterprise tier two area under G.S. 105‑129.3."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 160A‑215(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Administration. – The taxing city shall administer a room occupancy tax it levies. A room occupancy tax is due and payable to the city finance officer in monthly installments on or before the 15th day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. Every person, firm, corporation, or association liable for the tax shall, on or before the 20th day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the taxing city. The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from rentals upon which the tax is levied. A room occupancy tax return filed with the city finance officer is not a public record and may not be disclosed except in accordance with G.S. 153A‑148.1 or G.S. 160A‑208.1." 
SECTION 9.(a)  S.L. 2004‑123 is amended by a adding a new section to read:
"SECTION 3.1.  This act applies to Dare County only."
SECTION 9.(b)  S.L. 2004‑123, as amended by this act, is reenacted.
SECTION 10.  Section 5 of S.L. 2004‑204 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 5.  Section 3 of this act becomes effective January 1, 2005, and applies to sales made on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective for business activities occurring on or after November 1, 2004, and for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005. Section 4 of this act is repealed for business activities occurring in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020."
SECTION 11.  This act is effective when it becomes law.