The Tribune is starting a series where they highlight 31 ways that things will change once the laws passed by the 84th Session of the leg take effect September 1.
- Here's the first:
- Here's the first:
For tens of thousands of lawyers, doctors and engineers, a new Texas law is going to mean more money in their pockets.
Fourteen years after the Legislature first tacked on a $200 annual licensing fee for some occupations, lawmakers passed a law this year repealing the so-called professionals tax. Over the years, as the state's business tax structure had changed, the fee had morphed into a form of double taxation, critics argued.
“This is an example of legislative and agency effort to eliminate an unfair burden on our licensees and pass the savings on to them,” said Susan Stanford, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The repeal is expected to impact more than 600,000 professionals, more than a third of whom are securities dealers and brokers, according to data from the state comptroller and various occupational boards.
The fee dates to 1991, when Texas lawmakers were in a desperate search for cash. The state was facing a $4.6 billion budget shortfall, as well as a court order to overhaul its school finance system that was expected to cost more that $1 billion.
