Did Texas S.B. 150 let counties keep interest earned on the state's share of deposited motor vehicle sales taxes?

Plain-English summary

S.B. 150 did not let counties keep interest earned on the state's share of motor vehicle sales taxes.

Attorney General Opinion MW-47 had allowed interest-bearing deposits but required remittance of interest attributable to the state's share. S.B. 150 changed interest treatment for registration and certificate-related fees under specified statutes, not motor vehicle sales tax under article 6.01 et seq.

The internal opinion therefore concluded the counties' duty to remit state-share interest on motor vehicle sales tax remained unchanged.

What this means for you

Statutory permission concerning one class of “fees” did not alter a separate tax program. Revenue type and governing statute controlled.

Common questions

Q: Could counties retain interest on registration fees?
A: S.B. 150 addressed specified registration and title-related fees.

Q: Did it also cover motor vehicle sales tax?
A: No.

Citations and references

• Texas Attorney General Opinion MW-47 (1979)
• Texas S.B. 150, 67th Legislature
• V.C.S. arts. 6675a-10 and 6687-1
• Texas Tax-General Annotated art. 6.01 et seq.

Source

• STAR search: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/search?doc_type_code=L&tax_type_code=MVT
• Opinion: https://star.comptroller.texas.gov/view/8106L0329B10

Original ruling text

Date: June 10, 1981
To: Tom Soto, Motor Vehicle Tax Division
From: Oscar H. Villarreal, Legal Services Division
Subject: Motor Vehicle Taxes & S.B. 150 (67th Legislature)

FACTS

In accordance with TEX. GEN. OP. MW-47 (1979) you presently
require counties to remit the State's share of interest earned on
motor vehicle taxes deposited in interest bearing accounts.

QUESTION PRESENTED

Did the passage of S.B. 150 eliminate the counties' duty to remit
the State's share of interest earned on motor vehicle taxes deposited
in interest bearing accounts?

DISCUSSION

TEX. ATTY. GEN. OP. MW-47 (1979) was issued in response to two
questions. First, do county tax assessor-collectors have the
authority to deposit funds collected from automobile license fees
in interest bearing accounts? Second, if the assessor-collectors
do have this authority, may they retain the interest earned? In
response to the first question, A.G. OP. MW-47 concluded that it was
within the assessor-collector's authority to deposit these funds in
an interest bearing account. However, the Attorney General concluded
that the assessor-collector would have to remit the interest earned
on the State's share of fees collected and deposited in an interest
bearing account.

The current legislative session passed S.B. 150 and your question
asks if the county assessor-collector's duty to remit the State's
share of interest earned on motor vehicle taxes (emphasis added)
deposited in interest bearing accounts remains unchanged.

S.B. 150 is pertinent to your question in two instances. First,
Sec. 1 of the bill amends Article 6675a-10 V.T.C.S in the following
manner:

"(f) The County owns all interest earned on fees deposited in a daily
interest savings account under subsection (d) of this section. The
County Treasurer shall credit the interest earned on fees so deposited
to the County General Fund."

The fees referred to in "subsection (d)" above are motor vehicle
registration fees or Art. 6675a-1 et seq. V.T.C.S. It should be noted
that these statutes provided for the fees which were the subject of
Attorney General Op. MW-47 (1979). Second, Sec. 4 of S.B. 150 amends
Art. 6687-(1) in the following manner:

"(b) The County Tax Assessor-Collector may defer remittance to the
Department of fees collected under Subsection (a) of this section if
the fees are deposited in a daily interest savings accounting the
County Depository . . ."

"Subsection (a)" referred to immediately above provides for the
payment of a fee prior to obtaining a Certificate of Authority.

Motor Vehicle Sales Taxes are levied in accordance with TEX.TAX.-GEN.
ANN. art. 6.01 et seq. S.B. 150 in no provision makes reference to
Art. 6.01 et seq. To the contrary, the wording of the bill speaks of
fees levied or collected under this "Act." A review of the legislative
history to the "Act" referred to in S.B. 150 reveals that the Act
referred to is that "Act" which provided for the imposition of motor
vehicle registration fees and the imposition of a fee prior to obtaining
a certificate of title; or Arts. 6675a-1 et seq. V.T.C.S. and Art. 668701
et seq. V.T.C.S. respectively. Accordingly, it is the opinion of the
writer that S.B. 150 did not authorize county tax assessor-collectors to
retain the State's share of interest earned on motor vehicle taxes
deposited in interest bearing accounts and the duty to remit such interest
remains unchanged.

Respectfully submitted.

Oscar H. Villarreal