Okla. Admin. Code § 710:65-13-700
Current through Vol. 42, No. 4, November 1, 2024
Section 710:65-13-700 - Sales and use tax exemption for the sale, lease, rental, storage, use, or other consumption of qualifying broadband equipment by providers of Internet service or their subsidiaries(a)Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this Part, shall have the following meaning unless the context indicates otherwise: (1)"Broadband" means those services and underlying facilities that provide access to and from the Internet of continuous speeds of at least twenty-five (25) megabits per second (Mbps) downstream, from the provider to the customer, and continuous speeds of at least three (3) megabits per second (Mbps) upstream, from the customer to the provider, using fixed, terrestrial facilities, including, but not limited to, wireless, copper wire, fiber-optic cable, or coaxial cable, to provide such service. The minimum Internet speeds listed in this paragraph shall be subject to change or update when, or if, the Federal Communications Commission makes new rulings related to its definition of broadband. [17 O.S. § 139.102(4)](2)"Underserved" means an area or region that has Internet service at speeds higher than those that meet the definition of an unserved area, but lower than those service speeds of high-speed Internet. [17 O.S. § 139.102(48)](3)"Unserved" means an area or region in which there is not at least one provider of terrestrial broadband service that is either: (A) Offering a connection to the Internet, or(B) Required, under the terms of the Federal Universal Service Fund or other federal or state grant, to provide a connection to the Internet. [See: 17 O.S. § 139.102](b)General provisions. The sale, lease, rental, storage, use or other consumption of qualifying broadband equipment by providers of Internet service or subsidiaries if the property is directly used or consumed by the provider or subsidiary in or during the distribution of broadband Internet service is exempt from state and local sales and use taxes.(c)Exemption exceptions. Equipment purchased for the following functions, operations and other uses do not qualify for exemption: (1) Supporting or ancillary functions, such as office operations, field operations, marketing, transportation, warehousing, data storage, or similar operations that do not directly result in the distribution of broadband Internet service do not qualify for exemption.(2) Property directly used or consumed in or during the provision, creation, or production of a data processing service or information service, or property the provider grants, sells, or leases to the customer for use within the home or establishment receiving broadband.(3) The following is a nonexclusive list of items that do not qualify for the exemption: (A) Boxes, ducts, enclosures, frames, housing, shelter, vaults, conduit/pipes that hold wires, cables, and equipment(H) Nuts, bolts and other types of connectors(S) Fiber splicing and repair(d)Administration. Pursuant to statute, the exemption for sales of qualifying broadband equipment will be administered as a rebate of the state and local sales or use taxes paid by the providers of Internet services or subsidiaries thereof to the vendor or accrued and self-remitted to the State of Oklahoma.(e)Purchases qualifying for exemption. No claim for a rebate shall be approved unless the following conditions are met:(1) The equipment was purchased in order to establish or expand broadband services in underserved or unserved areas; and(2) Claimant establishes that as a result of the equipment purchase there has been net growth in the number of potential customers served in underserved or unserved areas.(f)Claim deadlines. Rebate claims for the outlined periods are governed by the following deadlines: (1)FY 23 rebate claims. To qualify for rebate payments for FY 23, equipment or other items qualifying for the exemption must be purchased and placed in service between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023. To receive a rebate of sales/use tax paid on purchases of qualifying broadband equipment placed in service in calendar year 2022, a claim for rebate must be filed with the Tax Commission no later than September 1, 2023. Rebate claims for sales/use tax paid for qualifying equipment purchased in calendar year 2023 must be filed with the Tax Commission not later than September 1, 2024. All claims attributable to calendar years 2022 and 2023 are to be processed by the Tax Commission not later than March 1, 2025.(2)FY 24 rebate claims. To qualify for rebate payments for FY 24, equipment or other items qualifying for the exemption must be purchased and placed in service between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025. To receive a rebate of sales/use tax paid on purchases of qualifying broadband equipment placed in service in calendar year 2024, a rebate claim must be filed with the Tax Commission no later than September 1, 2025. Rebate claims for sales/use tax paid for qualifying equipment purchased in calendar year 2025 must be filed with the Tax Commission not later than September 1, 2026. All claims are to be processed by the Tax Commission not later than March 1, 2027.(g)Rebate cap. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and all subsequent fiscal years, the total amount of rebate is capped at $42,000,000 with $31,500,000 of the total reserved for eligible projects serving counties having a population density of fewer than one hundred (100) persons per square mile and $10,500,000 of the total reserved for eligible projects serving counties having a population density of one hundred (100) or more persons per square mile.(h)Distribution of rebate dollars. The amount of rebate paid to each claimant shall be computed by dividing the applicable total rebate pool amount by the dollar amount of claims timely received by the Tax Commission with respect to each fiscal year, and paying in full the amount of the claims submitted if the amount of claims are equal to, or less than, the total rebate pool, or a pro rata share if the total amount of claims submitted exceed the rebate pool. Qualifying claim amounts which are not paid will not rollover to the next claim period.(i)Application process. The sales/use tax rebate claims with supporting documentation are to be mailed to Credits and Refunds Section, Business Tax Services Division, Oklahoma Tax Commission, Oklahoma City, OK 73194. Rebate claims must include the following information:(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the contact person along with the name, address, telephone number and at least the last four digits of the purchaser's identification number.(2) A written detailed explanation of why the rebate is due.(3) Copies of the original invoices included in the rebate request, in chronological order, from the oldest to the most current. If the number of invoices exceeds twenty-five (25), the invoices must be accompanied by an electronic spreadsheet of the invoices associated with the rebate claim that relates back to the tax amount requested on the application for credit. The required fields should accurately list the vendor name, invoice date, invoice number, description of the items, the taxable amount, the sales/use tax requested, period the tax was remitted, permit number the tax was remitted under, and the jurisdiction(s) for which the tax was paid.(4) Additional documents which support the rebate claim, including proof that equipment purchases established or expanded broadband services in underserved or unserved areas and resulted in a net growth in the number of potential customers served in the covered areas.(5) If the amount of the request exceeds $10,000, the purchaser must also provide the following: (A) A statement from each vendor to whom the purchaser paid the tax setting forth each invoice included in the claim;(B) The amount of state, city and/or county tax collected from the purchaser and reported by the vendor and the local jurisdiction(s) for which the tax was paid; and(C) The date on which the tax was remitted to the Tax Commission.(6) Further, the claim must differentiate between project property serving counties with a population density of fewer than one hundred (100) persons per square mile and those with a population density of one hundred (100) or more persons per square mile.Okla. Admin. Code § 710:65-13-700
Adopted by Oklahoma Register, Volume 41, Issue 22, August 1, 2024, eff. 8/11/2024