A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to clarify and simplify the Application of the additional gross premiums taxes on fire and lightning coverage.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 105‑228.5(d)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Tax Rates; Disposition. –
…
(3)	Additional Statewide Fire and Lightning Rate. – An additional tax at the rate of one and thirty‑three hundredths percent (1.33%) applies to gross premiums on insurance contracts applicable to fire and lightning coverage, except marine and automobile contracts. The tax is a percentage of the gross premiums from the contracts, determined in accordance with the table in this subdivision. Twenty‑five percent (25%) of the net proceeds of this additional tax shall be deposited in the Volunteer Fire Department Fund established in Article 87 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes. The remaining net proceeds shall be credited to the General Fund.
Type of Insurance Contract	Taxable Percentage
Fire Loss	100%
Commercial Multiple Peril
	Nonliability portion	100%
	Liability portion	0%
Homeowners	50%
Farm Owners	30%."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 105‑228.5(b)(2) and G.S. 105‑228.5(d)(4) are repealed. 
SECTION 3.  G.S. 105‑228.5(d)(3), as amended by Section 1 of this act, reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Tax Rates; Disposition. –
…
(3)	Additional Rate on Property Coverage Contracts. – An additional tax at the rate of eighty‑five hundredths percent (.85%) applies to gross premiums on insurance contracts for property coverage. The tax is imposed on ten percent (10%) of the gross premiums from insurance contracts for automobile physical damage coverage and on one hundred percent (100%) of the gross premiums from all other contracts for property coverage. Twenty  percent  (20%) of the net proceeds of this additional tax must be credited to the Volunteer Fire Department Fund established in Article 87 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes. Twenty‑five percent (25%) of the net proceeds must be credited to the Department of Insurance for disbursement pursuant to G.S. 58‑84‑25. The remaining net proceeds must be credited to the General Fund.																																						
The following definitions apply in this subdivision:
a.	Automobile physical damage. – The following lines of business identified by the NAIC: private passenger automobile physical damage and commercial automobile physical damage.
b.	Property coverage. – The following lines of business identified by the NAIC: fire, farm owners multiple peril, homeowners multiple peril, nonliability portion of commercial multiple peril, ocean marine, inland marine, earthquake, private passenger automobile physical damage, commercial automobile physical damage, aircraft, and boiler and machinery.
c.	NAIC.– National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "
SECTION 4.  G.S. 105‑228.5(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Report and Payment. – Each taxpayer doing business in this State shall, within the first 15 days of March, file with the Secretary of Revenue a full and accurate report of the total gross premiums as defined in this section, the payroll and other information required by the Secretary in the case of a self‑insurer, or the total gross collections from membership dues exclusive of receipts from cost plus plans collected in this State during the preceding calendar year. The taxes imposed by this section shall be remitted to the Secretary with the report.
"
SECTION 5.  G.S. 105‑228.5(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Installment Payments Required. – Taxpayers that are subject to the tax imposed by this section and have a premium tax liability of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more for business done in North Carolina during the immediately preceding year shall remit three equal quarterly installments with each installment equal to at least thirty‑three and one‑third percent (33 1/3%) of the premium tax liability incurred in the immediately preceding taxable year. The quarterly installment payments shall be made on or before April 15, June 15, and October 15 of each taxable year. The company shall remit the balance by the following March 15 in the same manner provided in this section for annual returns.
The Secretary of Revenue may permit an insurance company to pay less than the required estimated payment when the insurer reasonably believes that the total estimated payments made for the current year will exceed the total anticipated tax liability for the year.
An underpayment of an installment payment required by this subsection shall bear interest at the rate established under G.S. 105‑241.1(i). Any overpayment shall bear interest as provided in G.S. 105‑266(b) and, together with the interest, shall be credited to the company and applied against the taxes imposed upon the company under this Article."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 58‑84‑1 is repealed.
SECTION 7.  G.S. 58‑84‑25 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58‑84‑25.  Disbursement of funds by Insurance Commissioner.
The Insurance Commissioner shall deduct the sum of three percent (3%) from the tax proceeds credited to the Department pursuant to G.S. 105‑228.5(d)(3) and pay the same over to the treasurer of the State Firemen's Association for general purposes. The Insurance Commissioner shall deduct the sum of two percent (2%) from the tax proceeds and retain the same in the budget of the Department of Insurance for the purpose of administering the disbursement of funds by the board of trustees in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 58‑84‑35. The Insurance Commissioner shall, pursuant to G.S. 58‑84‑50, credit the amount forfeited by nonmember fire districts to the North Carolina State Firemen's Association. The Insurance Commissioner shall pay the remaining tax proceeds to the treasurer of each fire district on a per capita basis, using the most recent annual population estimates certified by the State Budget Officer. These funds shall be held by the treasurer as a separate and distinct fund. The fire district shall immediately pay the funds to the treasurer of the local board of trustees upon the treasurer's election and qualification, for the use of the board of trustees of the firemen's local relief fund in each fire district, which board shall be composed of five members, residents of the fire district as hereinafter provided for, to be used by it for the purposes provided in G.S. 58‑84‑35."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 58‑87‑1 reads as rewritten: 
"§ 58‑87‑1.  Volunteer Fire Department Fund.
(a)	Fund. – The Volunteer Fire Department Fund is created as an interest‑bearing, nonreverting fund in the Department to provide matching grants to volunteer fire departments to purchase equipment and make capital improvements. The Commissioner shall administer the Fund. Up to two percent (2%) of the Fund may be used for additional staff and resources to administer the Fund in each fiscal year.
(a1)	Grant Program. – An eligible fire department may apply to the Commissioner for a grant under this section. In awarding grants under this section, the Commissioner must to the extent possible select applicants from all parts of the State based upon need. The Commissioner must award the grants on May 15 of each year subject to the following limitations:
(1)	The size of a grant may not exceed twenty thousand dollars ($20,000);
(2)	The applicant shall match the grant on a dollar‑for‑dollar basis;
(3)	The grant may be used only for equipment purchases, payment of highway use taxes on those purchases, or capital expenditures necessary to provide fire protection services; and
(4)	An applicant may receive no more than one grant per fiscal year.

(b)	Eligible Fire Department. – A fire department is eligible for a grant under this section if it meets all of the conditions of this subsection. No fire department may be declared ineligible for a grant solely because it is classified as a municipal fire department.
(1)	It serves a response area of 6,000 or less in population. In making the population determination, the Department must use the most recent annual population estimates certified by the State Budget Officer.
(2)	It consists entirely of volunteer members, with the exception that the unit may have paid members to fill the equivalent of three full‑time paid positions.
(3)	It has been certified by the Department of Insurance.
(c)	Report. – The Commissioner must submit a written report to the General Assembly within 60 days after the grants have been made. This report must contain the amount of the grant and the name of the recipient."
SECTION 9.  The Revenue Laws Study Committee shall study the simplification of the additional tax imposed on insurance contracts on property coverage, as enacted in Section 3 of this act, and the distribution of the revenue generated by the tax. The study of this issue may include a recommendation on the percentage of revenue to be distributed to the firemen's local relief funds and the formula for making this distribution. The study may also consider the increasing difference between the amount of revenue available in the Volunteer Fire Department Fund for matching grants to purchase equipment and make capital improvements and the amount of grant requests received. The Committee must include its recommendations on this issue in its report to the 2007 Regular Session of the 2007 General Assembly.
SECTION 10.  Section 1 of this act is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2006. Sections 2, 4, and 5 of this act are effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2008. Sections 3, 6, 7, and 8 of this act become effective January 1, 2008. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.