Creating a state remittance tax and including applicability provisions

This bill creates a remittance transfer tax at a rate of 50 percent on the gross remittance transfer amount made by a sender in this state. §1693o-1(g), which generally defines remittance transfer to mean an electronic transfer of funds by a sender to a recipient, whether or not the sender holds an account with the remittance transfer provider. The bill defines “remittance provider” to mean any person or financial institution that provides remittance transfers for a consumer in the normal course of business, whether or not the consumer holds an account with such a person or financial institution. The tax imposed under the bill only applies to remittance transfers where the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or any other similar physical instrument to the remittance transfer provider to initiate the transfer to the recipient. The tax shall not be imposed on any remittance transfer for which the funds being transferred are withdrawn from an account held in or by a financial institution. The bill specifies the tax shall be paid by the sender of the remittance transfer. The remittance transfer provider is required to collect the tax and to transfer the tax to the department of revenue on a monthly basis. If the remittance tax is not collected at the time of the remittance transfer, the bill requires the remittance provider to pay the tax. The bill requires the director of revenue to administer the remittance transfer tax as nearly as possible in conjunction with the administration of the state sales and use tax law, except that portion of the law that implements the streamlined sales and use tax agreement. The bill directs all revenues derived from the remittance transfer tax to be deposited into the general fund of the state. The tax applies to remittance transfers occurring on or after July 1, 2026.