AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 AND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE.
HB296 is an administrative and tax-administration bill that makes a series of targeted changes to Titles 6 and 30 of the Delaware Code, primarily affecting the Department of Finance and the Division of Revenue. The bill clarifies what information from expired licenses may be disclosed, defines and standardizes the treatment of “trust fund taxes,” and aligns assessment, protest, finality, and refund-disallowance timelines for those taxes. It also updates filing deadlines for information returns, including moving all 1099 filings to January 31 after the close of the taxable year.
The bill further makes technical and clarifying changes to tax assessment rules, extended lookback provisions, the definition of “transfer” for document/realty-related purposes, and trade name registration procedures. Several provisions are retroactive or delayed in effectiveness, including technical trade name changes effective retroactively to February 3, 2026, and the Title 30 changes taking effect 60 days after enactment.
HB296 would amend multiple provisions of Delaware tax and business-records law, primarily in Title 30 but also in Title 6. It expands and codifies the category of trust fund taxes, which affects how the state assesses, protests, finalizes, and collects certain taxes and surcharges collected by third parties on behalf of the state. It also changes reporting obligations for payors by requiring 1099 information returns to be filed by January 31, and it updates trade name registration and false-affidavit provisions administered by the Division of Revenue. The bill is largely administrative in nature, but it would affect taxpayers, withholding agents, businesses, and the Department of Finance’s enforcement and disclosure practices.
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill: it passed House Third Reading unanimously, 37-0. The synopsis frames the measure as a set of transparency, clarification, and administrative-efficiency updates rather than a major policy change. With no committee transcript available, the overall sentiment appears favorable and noncontroversial, with lawmakers treating the bill as a technical cleanup and modernization measure.
No recorded committee debate is available, and the floor vote was unanimous, so there is little evidence of active opposition. The most likely areas of interest or concern are the expanded and standardized treatment of trust fund taxes, the shortened/clarified filing deadlines for information returns, and the retroactive technical changes to trade name registration. The bill also touches on disclosure of information from expired licenses and on assessment timing rules, but the record provided does not show any specific dispute over those provisions.