Did Florida require a stock transfer agent to file the customer position statements required from registered securities broker-dealers?

Subject

Stockbroker - Dealer Filing Requirements - Information Reports

Plain-English summary

The stock transfer agent was not required to file customer position statements with the Florida Department of Revenue. The statute imposed that duty on registered securities broker-dealers for customers whose securities they held.

The Department described a transfer agent as a recordkeeper rather than the seller of the securities. That difference placed it outside the reporting requirement addressed in the ruling.

What this means for you

The historical filing duty followed the entity's actual role. A recordkeeping transfer agent was not treated as a broker-dealer merely because it maintained shareholder records.

Common questions

Q: Who had to file the position statements? Registered securities broker-dealers holding securities for customers.

Q: Why was the transfer agent excluded? It functioned only as the recordkeeper, not the seller.

Citations and references

• Fla. Stat. § 199.062(3) — broker-dealer customer position statements
• Fla. Stat. § 213.22 — Technical Assistance Advisements

Source

• Landing page: Florida Tax Law Library
• Advisement: TAA 93C2-019

Original ruling text

Jun 25, 1993

Re: Technical Assistance Advisement No. 93(C)2-019
Intangible Tax - Stockbroker Filing Requirement
Section 199.062(3), F.S.

Dear :

Your letter requesting a Technical Assistance Advisement
that stock transfer agents are not required to file stockholder
information with the Florida Department of Revenue has been
referred to this office for response.

Section 199.062(3), F.S., requires that all registered
securities broker/dealers file position statements for customer
for whom they hold securities. A transfer agent functions only
as the record keeper, not the seller of the securities.
Therefore, s. 199.062(3), F.S., does not require transfer agents
to file any customer position statements with the Florida
Department of Revenue.

This response constitutes a Technical Assistance Advisement
under s. 213.22, F.S., which is binding on the Department only
under the facts and circumstances described in the request for
this advice as specified in s. 213.22, F.S. Our response is
predicated on those facts and the specific situation summarized
above. You are advised that subsequent statutory or
administrative rule changes or judicial interpretations of the
statutes or rules upon which this advice is based may subject
similar future transactions to a different treatment than
expressed in this response.

You are further advised that this response and your request
are public records under Chapter 119, F.S., which are subject to
disclosure to the public under the conditions of s. 213.22, F.S.
Your name, address, and any other details which might lead to
identification of the taxpayer must be deleted by the Department
before disclosure. In an effort to protect the confidentiality
of such information, we request you notify the undersigned in

writing within 15 days of any deletions you wish made to the
request or the response.

Sincerely,

J.V. Parramore, Jr.
Technical Assistant
Technical Assistance

JVP/mh