69I-20.050. Voluntary Disclosure Agreements, Examinations and Audits

(1) The Department’s mission is to collect and return unclaimed property to its rightful owners in accordance with the Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, Chapter 717, F.S. To achieve these results, the Department is encouraging businesses (“Holders”) inside and outside the State of Florida who are in possession of unclaimed property to comply with Florida’s Unclaimed Property Law. This compliance can be achieved using a program called voluntary disclosure. This program provides the following benefits to a Holder:

(a) It relieves the Holder of associated expense and liability holding unclaimed property; and

(b) Penalties and fines are not assessed by the Department.

(2) To participate in this program, the Holder must not:

(a) Be currently under examination or audit;

(b) Have filed an annual report of unclaimed property with the Department;

(c) Have agreed to a Department-assisted or Contractor-assisted self-audit;

(d) Have been requested to conduct a Department-assisted or contractor-assisted self-audit; or

(e) Have been notified by the Department or by one of the Department’s contract auditors of the intention or desire to conduct an examination or audit of the Holder.

(3) The property to be disclosed must be unreported and unremitted unclaimed property due to the State of Florida. No property will be accepted on behalf of another state.

(4) The Holder must provide the Bureau of Unclaimed Property with the following information:

(a) Name of entity, mailing address, contact person, telephone number, facsimile number and e-mail address of the contact person, federal employer identification number, and standard industrial code classification;

(b) The Holder’s state of incorporation;

(c) The Holder’s principal place of business (city and state);

(d) If the Holder’s state of incorporation and principal place of business is outside of Florida, the Holder must provide a list detailing the cities in Florida where the Holder conducts business with the number of locations in each city; and

(e) If the Holder has no locations within Florida, the Holder must so state.

(5) The Holder must submit a detail plan outlining the disclosure process to be completed by the Holder, the estimation calculations used by the Holder, and a report identifying the unclaimed property due to the Department. The unclaimed property remittance must accompany the report.

(6) If companies in the same or similar line of business regularly report unclaimed property such as payroll or vendor checks, unclaimed accounts payable, and unclaimed escrow accounts, and the Holder does not, or if companies of the same approximate size regularly report unclaimed property such as payroll or vendor checks, unclaimed accounts payable, and unclaimed escrow accounts of a certain dollar amount, and the Holder has reported a lower dollar amount, an unclaimed property audit or self-audit should be conducted.

(a) The Department’s contract auditors shall follow the procedures in Form DFS-UP-200, General Audit Process for the Identification, Authorization, General Ledger and/or Securities Audits, Contractor-Assisted Self-Audits, Collection and Delivery of Unclaimed Property for the State of Florida, effective 4-27-09.

(b) The Department’s contract auditors shall provide Holders with Form DFS-UP-210, Procedures Applicable to the State Authorized Unclaimed Property General Ledger and Securities Audits and Contractor-Assisted Self-Audits, Conducted by Contractors, effective 4-27-09.

(c) The Department’s auditors and supervisors shall follow the procedures in Form DFS-UP-220, State of Florida Bureau of Unclaimed Property Audit Manual, effective 4-27-09.

(d) The Department’s auditors and supervisors shall follow the procedures in Form DFS-UP-230, State of Florida Bureau of Unclaimed Property Self-Audit Manual, effective 4-27-09.

(e) The forms referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference and available from the Florida Department of Financial Services, Bureau of Unclaimed Property, 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0358.

Rulemaking Authority 717.117(1), 717.138 FS. Law Implemented 717.117, 717.119, 717.129, 717.1301, 717.133(5) FS. History–New 1-3-05, Amended 4-27-09.