| (1) A licensed customs broker, or an authorized employee
of a licensed customs broker, is required to use the website to prepare
export certification forms and must provide all information as required
by the comptroller. Failure to use the website to prepare export certification
forms while the website is available is a violation under subsection
(q) of this section.
(2) When the comptroller's website is available but
a licensed customs broker, or an authorized employee of a licensed
customs broker, is unable to use the system due to technical or communications
problems, the licensed customs broker or authorized employee must
notify the comptroller prior to issuing manual export certifications.
The licensed customs broker, or authorized employee, may provide the
notification by calling 1-888-434-5464 and following an automated
menu to enter the licensed customs broker's 11-digit taxpayer number
and the location number. The licensed customs broker, or authorized
employee, must contact the comptroller again every 48-hours for as
long as the customs broker is unable to use the website. The licensed
customs broker, or authorized employee, must enter the export certification
information using the website no later than 48-hours after the technical
or communications problems are resolved.
(3) When the comptroller's website is unavailable due
to routine maintenance by the comptroller or technical or communications
problems experienced by the comptroller, a licensed customs broker,
or an authorized employee of a licensed customs broker, may issue
manual export certification forms without notifying the comptroller's
office in advance. The licensed customs broker, or authorized employee,
must enter such export certification information using the website
within 48-hours after the website becomes available. Failure to enter
such documentation no later than 48-hours is a violation under subsection
(q) of this section.
(l) Reports required. A licensed customs broker is
required to file a report quarterly on a form prescribed by the comptroller.
(1) The quarterly report must be signed by the licensed
customs broker or by the licensed customs broker's duly authorized
agent and must include the following information:
(A) the total value of property for which the licensed
customs broker issued export certifications that quarter;
(B) the total amount of tax on property for which the
licensed customs broker issued export certifications that quarter;
and
(C) the total amount of tax refunded in accordance
with export certifications issued by the licensed customs broker that
quarter.
(2) The customs broker report is due on the 20th day
of the month following the end of each calendar quarter reporting
period. For example, the first quarter report period is January, February,
and March, and the due date is April 20th. If the 20th is a Saturday,
Sunday, or legal holiday, the report is due the next business day.
To be considered timely, a report must be either postmarked or received
by the comptroller on or before the due date of the report.
(3) Failure to receive the correct report form from
the comptroller does not relieve a customs broker of the responsibility
to file a report.
(4) A penalty of $500 is imposed for each report filed
after the due date. The comptroller shall also impose an additional
$50 penalty for each late report filed.
(m) Records required. A licensed customs broker must
maintain books and records that include, at a minimum, the following:
(1) an exact photographic image of the export certification
stamp and of each export certification form signed by the customs
broker within the last two years. Carbon copies and pages from multi-page
forms are acceptable in lieu of photocopies, provided the number of
the export certification stamp affixed to the original is recorded
on the additional copies;
(2) a ledger that:
(A) lists sequentially all export certification forms
issued or voided within the last two years;
(B) identifies the person or persons who fully or partially
prepared, issued, and/or signed each form; and
(C) identifies the person's or persons' relationship
to the licensed customs broker;
(3) an inventory of export certification stamps and
records tracking transfers of stamps between the customs broker and
authorized employees, identifying the recipients and showing the dates
of transfer, quantities transferred, the sequential numbers of the
transferred stamps (if the comptroller has numbered the stamps sequentially),
and detailed records regarding stamps that have been lost, stolen,
or are otherwise unaccounted for;
(4) a current list of all employees authorized to fully
or partially prepare, issue, and/or sign export certification forms
and information relating to the hiring and termination of the authorized
employees;
(5) all contracts executed between the customs broker
and verification contractors and information relating to the termination
or cancellation of such contracts;
(6) exact copies of all invoices, receipts, passports,
laser visa identification cards, foreign voter registration picture
identification, I-94 forms, air, land, or water travel documentation,
or other documents relating to property whose export the customs broker
has certified. This requirement specifically applies to documentation
that must be verified by a customs broker under subsection (b)(3)
of this section. The requirement also applies to other documentation
if the customs broker attached such copies to the original form as
provided in subsection (p)(6) of this section;
(7) a copy of a certified check, company check, or
money order made payable to the purchaser, or a credit memo or cash
receipt signed by the purchaser, and the purchaser's written assignment
of the right to a Texas sales or use tax refund for each instance
in which the customs broker obtained a refund assignment from the
purchaser;
(8) detailed records showing the amount the customs
broker charges clients for their export certification services and
the customs broker's gross receipts from certifying exports;
(9) information described in subsection (d) of this
section, updated and kept current since the date of application; and
(10) detailed records of when an authorized employee
is terminated, quits, is no longer authorized to complete export certification
forms, or whose power of attorney is withdrawn. A licensed customs
broker is required to notify the comptroller in writing within 15
days of the date when an authorized employee is subject to such action.
(n) Examination of records. A licensed customs broker
must make all required records available for examination by the comptroller.
The comptroller will issue written notice of routine examination of
records at least 15 days prior to the date of examination. No advance
notice will be issued if the comptroller determines that notice could
jeopardize the proper enforcement of the tax laws and the comptroller's
rules. The examination will take place at the customs broker's principal
place of business unless the comptroller agrees to examine the records
at another location.
(o) Retention of records. A licensed customs broker
must retain records for a period of at least two years from the date
of the document, the date of completion (if the required record is
a contract), or the date of final entry (if the required record is
a list or ledger). Copies of export certification forms must be retained
for at least two years after the date the customs broker or the customs
broker's authorized employee signs the form, regardless of the date
of export. For other documents with multiple dates, the two-year period
for retention begins on the latest date reflected on the document.
(p) Export certification form and contents. The export
certification forms issued by a licensed customs broker must be substantially
in the form recommended by the comptroller. A separate form must be
completed for each seller. A maximum of six invoices from a single
seller may be listed on a single export certification form only if
all the listed items were exported at the same place, on the same
date, and at the same time. The required information must be completed
in English on the face of the form, in addition to any other language
in which the form is completed. The comptroller may immediately confiscate
from any person an export certification form that is incomplete on
its face, indecipherable, fraudulent, or otherwise in violation of
this section. An export certification form must, at a minimum, reflect
the following information:
(1) the name and address of the purchaser of the property,
as shown on the invoice, receipt, or similar document, or the purchaser's
home address if the customs broker certified the export under subsection
(b)(3) of this section;
(2) the name of the seller and the seller's location
from which the property was sold;
Cont'd... |
