Tax commission OKs new tax regs

The Nevada Tax Commission on Monday approved the first of five sets of regulations necessary to implement new taxes approved by the 2003 Legislature.

The rules spelling out exactly how and when banks must pay a per-branch excise tax of $7,000 a year were put in place. Because the excise tax is paid quarterly, the commission had to determine under what circumstances a bank would not pay the tax in a given quarter and ensure that banks couldn't find a loophole to escape paying. Under the law approved in July, banks must pay the excise tax each year for every branch, in addition to their main office.

The branch tax is expected to generate about $4 million over the next two years.

In addition, the commission approved emergency regulations designed to implement an annual fee on all businesses in the state. Lawmakers converted the one-time $25 fee paid by new businesses for the past decade into a $100-a-year tax.

The tax was to take effect Oct. 1. The emergency regulations will continue for 120 days while Taxation Department officials and businessmen work out the bugs in the new rules, which define which businesses are required to pay and which are not. The tax was not generally designed to capture small, home-based businesses that don't generate the majority of the family income but is aimed at catching many businesses which, until now, have escaped taxation.

The business license fee is expected to generate $46.6 million over the next two years.