Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Definitions.
(1) Examination--the process of evaluating
the books and records of a permit holder relating to its sale of prepaid
funeral benefit contracts to provide all safeguards to protect the prepaid
funds and to assure that the funds will be available to pay for prearranged
funeral services.
(2) Fiscal
year--the 12-month period from September 1st to August 31st.
(3) You, Your or I--a person having a valid
permit to sell prepaid funeral benefit contracts issued by the department under
Section
RSA 154.101 of the
Finance Code.
(b) As a
prepaid funeral benefits seller, what fees must I pay for department
examinations?
(1) An annual assessment must
be paid as an examination fee to the department to defray the cost of
administering Chapter 154 of the Finance Code. The amount of your annual
assessment is based on the number of outstanding contracts as reflected on your
most recent annual report filed with the department. You must pay the annual
assessment specified in the following table:
Attached Graphic
(2) If more than one
examination is required in the same fiscal year as a result of your failure to
comply with the Finance Code, Chapter 154, this chapter, or a request by the
department, you must pay for each additional examination at a rate of $75 per
hour for each examiner required to conduct the additional examination and all
associated travel expenses.
(3) If
you are a new permit holder and have not yet filed your first annual report
required by Section
RSA 154.052 of the
Finance Code, you must pay an examination fee of $75 per hour for each examiner
and all associated travel expenses. Your subsequent annual assessment will be
calculated in accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(c) How will the department bill
me for the examination fees and when must I pay them?
(1) Your annual examination fee (annual
assessment) may be billed in quarterly or fewer installments each fiscal year.
You must pay a billed installment by ACH debit or by another method if directed
to do so by the department. At least 15 days prior to the scheduled ACH
transfer, the department will send you a notice specifying the amount of the
payment due and the date the department will initiate payment by ACH debit. The
commissioner may decrease your annual assessment if it is determined that a
lesser amount than would otherwise be collected is adequate to administer the
Act.
(2) You will be billed for
additional examinations described in subsection (b)(2) of this section with the
delivery of the examination report. You must pay this fee upon receipt of the
examination report.
(d)
Adjustments for inflation. In this section, "GDPIPD" means the Gross Domestic
Product Implicit Price Deflator, published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, United States Department of Commerce. The "annual GDPIPD factor" is
equal to the percentage change in the GDPIPD index values published for the
first quarter of the current year compared to the first quarter of the previous
year (the March-to-March period immediately preceding the calculation date),
rounded to a hundredth of a percent (two decimal places).
(1) Beginning September 1, 2020, and each
September 1 thereafter, the table in subsection (b)(1) of this section, as most
recently revised before such date pursuant to this subsection, may be revised
as follows:
(A) the base assessment amount
listed in column three of the table may be increased (or decreased) by an
amount proportionate to the measure of inflation (or deflation) reflected in
the annual GDPIPD factor, rounded to whole dollars; and
(B) each factor listed in column three of the
table may be increased (or decreased) by an amount proportionate to the measure
of inflation (or deflation) reflected in the annual GDPIPD factor, rounded to
two decimal places.
(2)
If the table in subsection (b)(1) of this section is revised for inflation (or
deflation), then not later than August 1 of each year, the department shall
calculate and prepare a revised table reflecting the inflation-adjusted values
to be applied effective the following September 1 and will provide each permit
holder with notice of and access to the revised table.