Section 47:305.73 - Rebates; sales and use tax for fiber-optic cable equipment and data center facility equipmentA. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(1) "Approved data center facility" means a data center facility that is located in Louisiana and certified by the Department of Economic Development.(2) "Data center" and "data center facility" mean a facility, campus of facilities, or interconnected facilities located within Louisiana which has a primary business purpose of processing, storage, retrieval, or communication of data, and was developed to power, cool, secure, or connect its own equipment or the equipment of its customers.(3)(a) "Data center equipment" means equipment or software purchased or leased for the processing, storage, retrieval, or communication of data including all of the following: (i) Servers, routers, connections, and other enabling machinery, equipment, software, and hardware, regardless of whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into immovable property used in the processing, storage, retrieval, or communication of data.(ii) Equipment used in the operation of computer equipment or software, including component parts, refreshments, replacements, and upgrades, regardless of whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into immovable property.(iii) Equipment necessary for the transformation, generation, distribution, or management of electricity required to operate computer server equipment, including substations, generators, uninterruptible energy equipment, fuel piping and storage, cabling, duct banks, switches, switchboards, batteries, testing equipment, and backup generators.(iv) Equipment necessary to cool and maintain a controlled environment for the operation of computer servers and the data center, including chillers, refrigerant piping, fuel piping and storage, adiabatic and free cooling systems, cooling towers, water softeners, air handling units, indoor direct exchange units, fans, ducting, and filters.(v) Water conservation systems, including facilities or equipment designed to collect, conserve, and reuse water.(vi) Computer server equipment, including chassis, networking equipment, switches, racks, fiber optic and copper cabling, trays, and conduit.(vii) Monitoring equipment and security systems.(viii) Conduits, ducting, and fiber-optic and copper cabling, including any such items that are located outside the data center but within Louisiana, directly related to connecting one or more distributed approved data center locations.(ix) Equipment, materials, and services necessary for the development, acquisition, construction, expansion, and renovation of a qualified data center, including but not limited to construction and building materials, site characterization and assessment services, engineering services, and design services used directly and exclusively in a qualified data center.(x) Modular data centers and pre-assembled components used in the manufacturing of such centers.(xi) Pre-assembled components of any item listed in this Subparagraph.(b) The term "data center equipment" shall not mean office equipment or supplies, equipment or supplies used primarily in sales activities or transportation activities, tangible personal property not listed in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph that is incorporated into immovable property, and tangible personal property that is rented or leased for a term of one year or less.(4) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.(5) "Fiber-optic cable equipment" means: (a) Telecommunications fiber.(g) Communication handholes. (h) Customer premise equipment.(6) "Unserved area" means an area that has service levels below the minimum acceptable level of fixed broadband service as defined in 7 U.S.C. 950bb(e)(1).B.(1) A winning bidder that is awarded a census block by the Federal Communications Commission in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction shall be eligible for a rebate of state and local sales and use taxes paid by the winning bidder on fiber-optic cable equipment used to distribute fixed and mobile broadband networks to eligible rural unserved areas in Louisiana. The amount of the rebate shall equal fifty percent of the sales and use tax paid by the winning bidder on fiber-optic cable equipment. (2) Each item of fiber-optic cable equipment shall be eligible for only a single rebate pursuant to this Section. Subsequent transactions involving the sale or resale of the same item of fiber-optic cable equipment shall not be eligible for any rebate authorized pursuant to this Section.(3) The rebate authorized pursuant to this Section shall not be allowed for the purchases of fiber-optic cable equipment that are paid for with state or federal funds, unless the state or federal funds are reported as taxable income or are structured as repayable loans.C.(1)(a) Subject to the limitation provided in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, an approved data center facility shall be eligible for a rebate, to be paid annually, of Louisiana state and local sales and use taxes paid for the purchase of eligible data center equipment and for sales tax paid on expenditures for the development, acquisition, construction, lease, repair, refurbishment, expansion, and renovation of a qualified data center, including but not limited to costs of construction and building materials, site characterization and assessment, engineering, design, and labor and installation services used directly and exclusively in a qualified data center.(b) Only purchases made on or after July 1, 2024, shall be eligible for the rebate authorized in this Subsection.(2) To be certified as an approved data center by the Department of Economic Development, the data center facility operator shall provide a sworn attestation that the project will create a minimum of fifty new direct, permanent jobs in Louisiana and intends to expend at least two hundred million dollars in new capital investment in Louisiana on or after July 1, 2024, and before July 1, 2029. An approved data center shall be issued a Direct Payment Number in accordance with the applicable provisions of R.S. 47:303.1.(3)(a) A facility that has been certified as an approved data center facility shall enter into an agreement with the Department of Economic Development that comports with the requirements of this Paragraph.(b) The agreement shall provide a term of rebate eligibility, an initial term of twenty years, a list of all eligible recipients of the rebate, and language that authorizes the state to terminate the agreement and recapture any rebates if the data center facility fails to fulfill, or the Department of Economic Development determines that the facility will be unable to fulfill, its statutory and contractual obligations.(c) Upon the expiration of the initial term of the agreement, the Department of Economic Development may renew the agreement for an additional ten years.(d) The Department of Economic Development may include in the agreement any additional conditions it deems appropriate.(4) The department may utilize any collection remedy authorized by R.S. 47:1561.2 for any rebates subject to recapture based on termination of the agreement with the Department of Economic Development or a determination that the purchase did not qualify for the rebate. If a rebate is subject to recapture, the approved data center facility shall reimburse the department or its agent for any costs incurred.D.(1) Requests for the rebates of state sales and use taxes pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be processed by the department. A taxpayer shall request a state rebate using the form and in the manner prescribed by the department.(2) A taxpayer who requests a rebate pursuant to Subsection B of this Section shall submit documentation to the department evidencing the purchase of fiber-optic cable equipment and that the purchaser is a winning bidder that was awarded a census block by the Federal Communications Commission in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction. (3) A taxpayer who requests a rebate pursuant to Subsection C of this Section shall do all of the following: (a) Obtain certification from the Department of Economic Development that the data center is an approved data center facility eligible to receive a rebate provided for in Subsection C of this Section, in accordance with administrative rules. A copy of the certification shall be submitted to the department with the request for rebate.(b) Submit documentation to the department evidencing the purchases eligible for the rebate.E.(1) Requests for the rebate of local sales and use taxes pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall be processed by the appropriate local taxing authority. A taxpayer shall claim a local rebate using the form and in the manner required by the local taxing authority.(2) A taxpayer who requests a rebate pursuant to Subsection B of this Section shall submit documentation to the local taxing authority evidencing the purchase of fiber-optic cable equipment and documentation evidencing the purchaser is a winning bidder that was awarded a census block by the Federal Communications Commission in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction.(3) A taxpayer who requests a rebate pursuant to Subsection C of this Section shall submit documentation to the applicable local taxing authority evidencing the purchases eligible for the rebate.F.(1) The department and the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board, respectively, may promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act as necessary for the implementation of this Section.(2) The rules of the department may include, without limitation, the method for processing and paying rebates of state sales and use taxes authorized by this Section. The method may comprise a first come, first-served system, or any other procedure which the department, in its discretion, may find beneficial for administration of the rebate.Acts 2020 1st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §1, eff. July 1, 2020.Amended by Acts 2024, No. 730,s. 1, eff. 7/1/2024.Added by Acts 2020EX1, No. 35,s. 1, eff. 7/1/2020.