(a) Effective Date. The provisions of this section apply to franchise tax reports originally due on or after January 1, 2008, except as otherwise noted.
(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Arm's length--The standard of conduct under which entities that are not related parties and that have substantially equal bargaining power, each acting in its own interest, would negotiate or carry out a particular transaction.
  (2) Computer program--A series of instructions that are coded for acceptance or use by a computer system and that are designed to permit the computer system to process data and provide results and information. The series of instructions may be contained in or on magnetic tapes, printed instructions, or other tangible or electronic media.
  (3) Goods--Real or tangible personal property sold in the ordinary course of business of a taxable entity.
  (4) Heavy construction equipment--Self-propelled, self-powered, or pull-type equipment that weighs at least 3,000 pounds and is intended to be used for construction. The term does not include a motor vehicle required to be titled and registered.
  (5) Lending institution--An entity that makes loans and:
    (A) is regulated by the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Texas Department of Banking, the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, the Credit Union Department, or any comparable regulatory body;
    (B) is licensed by, registered with, or otherwise regulated by the Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending;
    (C) is a "broker" or "dealer" as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 at 15 U.S.C. §78c; or
    (D) provides financing to unrelated parties solely for agricultural production.
  (6) Principal business activity--The activity in which a taxable entity derives the largest percentage of its "total revenue".
  (7) Production--Construction, manufacture, installation occurring during the manufacturing or construction process, development, mining, extraction, improvement, creation, raising, or growth.
  (8) Related party--A person, corporation, or other entity, including an entity that is treated as a pass-through or disregarded entity for purposes of federal taxation, whether the person, corporation, or entity is subject to the tax under this chapter or not, in which one person, corporation, or entity, or set of related persons, corporations, or entities, directly or indirectly owns or controls a controlling interest in another entity.
  (9) Service costs--Indirect costs and administrative overhead costs that can be identified specifically with a service department or function, or that directly benefit or are incurred by reason of a service department or function. For purposes of this section, a service department includes personnel (including costs of recruiting, hiring, relocating, assigning, and maintaining personnel records or employees); accounting (including accounts payable, disbursements, and payroll functions); data processing; security; legal; general financial planning and management; and other similar departments or functions.
  (10) Tangible personal property--
    (A) includes:
      (i) personal property that can be seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched or that is perceptible to the senses in any other manner;
      (ii) films, sound recordings, videotapes, live and prerecorded television and radio programs, books, and other similar property embodying words, ideas, concepts, images, or sound, without regard to the means or methods of distribution or the medium in which the property is embodied, for which, as costs are incurred in producing the property, it is intended or is reasonably likely that any medium in which the property is embodied will be mass-distributed by the creator or any one or more third parties in a form that is not substantially altered; and
      (iii) a computer program, as defined in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
    (B) does not include:
      (i) intangible property or
      (ii) services.
(c) General rules for determining cost of goods sold.
  (1) Affiliated entities. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a payment made by one member of an affiliated group to another member of that affiliated group not included in the combined group may be subtracted as a cost of goods sold only if it is a transaction made at arm's length.
  (2) Capitalization or expensing of certain costs. The election to capitalize or expense allowable costs is made by filing the franchise tax report using one method or the other. The election is for the entire period on which the report is based and may not be changed after the due date or the date the report is filed, whichever is later. A taxable entity that is allowed a subtraction by this section for a cost of goods sold and that is subject to Internal Revenue Code, §§263A, 460, or 471 (including a taxable entity subject to §471 that elects to use LIFO under §472), may elect to:
    (A) Capitalize those costs in the same manner and to the same extent that the taxable entity capitalized those costs on its federal income tax return, except for those costs excluded under subsection (g) of this section, or in accordance with subsections (d), (e), and (f) of this section. A taxable entity that elects to capitalize costs on its first report due on or after January 1, 2008, may include, in beginning inventory, costs allowable for franchise tax purposes that would be in beginning inventory for federal income tax purposes.
      (i) If the taxable entity elects to capitalize those costs allowed under this section as a cost of goods sold, it must capitalize each cost allowed under this section that it capitalized on its federal income tax return.
      (ii) If the taxable entity later elects to begin expensing those costs allowed under this section as a cost of goods sold, the entity may not deduct any cost incurred before the first day of the period on which the report is based, including any ending inventory from a previous report.
    (B) Expense those costs, except for those costs excluded under subsection (g) of this section, or in accordance with subsections (d), (e), and (f) of this section.
      (i) If the taxable entity elects to expense those costs allowed under this section as a cost of goods sold, costs incurred before the first day of the period on which the report is based may not be subtracted as a cost of goods sold.
      (ii) If the taxable entity later elects to begin capitalizing those costs allowed under this section as a cost of goods sold, costs incurred prior to the accounting period on which the report is based may not be capitalized.
  (3) Election to subtract cost of goods sold. A taxable entity, if eligible, must make an annual election to subtract cost of goods sold in computing margin by the due date, or at the time the report is filed, whichever is later. The election to subtract cost of goods sold is made by filing the franchise tax report using the cost of goods sold method. An amended report may be filed within the time allowed by Tax Code, §111.107 to change the method of computing margin to the cost of goods sold deduction method or from the cost of goods sold deduction method to the compensation deduction method, 70% of total revenue, or, if otherwise qualified, the E-Z computation method. An election may also be changed as part of an audit. See §3.584 of this title (relating to Margin: Reports and Payments).
  (4) Exclusions from total revenue. Any expense excluded from total revenue (see §3.587 of this title (relating to Margin: Total Revenue)) may not be included in the determination of cost of goods sold.
  (5) Film and broadcasting. A taxable entity whose principal business activity is film or television production or broadcasting or the sale of broadcast rights or the distribution of tangible personal property described by subsection (b)(10)(A)(ii) of this section, or any combination of these activities, and who elects to use cost of goods sold to determine margin, may include as cost of goods sold:
    (A) the costs described in this section in relation to the property;
    (B) depreciation, amortization, and other expenses directly related to the acquisition, production, or use of the property, including
    (C) expenses for the right to broadcast or use the property.
  (6) Lending institutions. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the taxable entity is a lending institution that offers loans to the public and elects to subtract cost of goods sold, the entity may subtract as a cost of goods sold an amount equal to interest expense.
Cont'd...