§354. Payment and reporting of taxes; discounts; rules and regulations; enforcement; forfeitures and penalties; redemption of tax stamps

A.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, every manufacturer or wholesaler of beverages of high alcoholic content shall file with the secretary a monthly report on or before the fifteenth day of the month succeeding the period covered by the report. The report shall show sales or other handling of beverages of high alcoholic content and such other information as the secretary may require by regulation.

(2) Every wine producer, manufacturer, or retailer who sells and ships wine directly to a consumer in Louisiana as provided in R.S. 26:359(B) shall report and pay all applicable taxes as provided in R.S. 26:359(D).

B. The taxes levied in R.S. 26:341 shall be due and paid by the dealer with the liter tax report referred to in Subsection A of this Section and shall be computed upon the basis of the number of liters sold or otherwise disposed of by the dealer during the preceding calendar month. Liters sold or disposed of shall be deemed conclusively to be liters on hand at the beginning of the calendar month plus purchases during the calendar month less liters on hand at the end of the calendar month, less any exempt sales.

C.(1) The monthly liter tax report required by this Section shall be made on forms prescribed and furnished by the secretary and shall include such information as the secretary may by rule require. Reports shall be accompanied by the taxpayer's remittance in full of the correct amount of taxes due and owing for the period covered by the report.

(2) Every wholesale dealer handling beverages of high alcoholic content in Louisiana shall file, within twenty days after the expiration of each calendar month, a statement, on a form provided for this purpose by the Department of Revenue, showing the amount of beverages of high alcoholic content sold during the preceding month according to brand, packaging, and size of container. Such information shall be made available by the Department of Revenue to any municipal or parish governing authority, or trade organization consisting of wholesale dealers licensed by the state.

D. For accurately reporting and timely remitting the taxes all taxpayers shall be allowed a discount of two and one-half percent of the amount of the tax otherwise due. When a check or other instrument given in payment of taxes is returned unpaid, the discount is forfeited.

E. If the dealer in beverages of high alcoholic content fails to file a return and pay the tax due on the beverages within the time provided in Subsection A of this Section, he shall be subject to a penalty of five percent on the amount of the tax if the period of delinquency is ten days or less or twenty percent on the amount of the tax if the period of delinquency is greater than ten days. If an attorney is called on to assist in collection, there shall be an additional sum due equal to ten percent of both the amount of the penalties and tax due.

F. The secretary is authorized to make, adopt, and publish rules and regulations, which shall have the effect of law, for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Section. Notice of such regulations shall be as provided in R.S. 47:1511.

G. The secretary may require every manufacturer and wholesaler to cease business twice each year for the purpose of making physical inventories of all alcoholic beverages on hand. The dates of said inventories shall be fixed by the secretary of the Department of Revenue.

H. Any dealer who fails to file reports and pay the taxes due, in accordance with the provisions of this Section and the rules and regulations of the secretary, shall automatically be suspended from doing business and shall ipso facto forfeit his bond furnished as required in R.S. 26:348. Any bond forfeited under this Chapter may be collected as is provided for the collection of taxes. The secretary may confirm the suspension by serving the dealer with an order to cease business. Enforcement of any suspension by the secretary shall not be dependent upon the service of such an order. The permit of any dealer who conducts business after being suspended under this Section shall be revoked. The secretary may reinstate a suspended dealer upon his payment of the taxes due, and a mandatory penalty of twenty percent of the taxes due, and his furnishing a new bond and complying with such other conditions as the secretary may prescribe to assure compliance in the future. The sanctions, penalty, and forfeiture provided herein shall be in addition to any other fines, forfeitures, and civil or criminal penalties which may be imposed under other provisions of this Section and Chapter, and the failure of the dealer to remove the delinquency within thirty days shall be additional cause for revocation of his permit.

I. With respect to the twenty percent penalty provided in this Section, the wholesale dealer shall have the right to send a signed application for a waiver of the penalty, which application shall be provided in the form of an affidavit setting forth the reasons for the failure to pay the taxes within the specified time. If the failure to pay the tax when due is explained to the satisfaction of the secretary, he may remit or waive payment of the whole or any part of any penalty due under the provisions of this Chapter.

J. The revocation provided for in Subsection H of this Section may be enforced by the secretary in summary proceedings instituted against the dealer in any parish in which he is domiciled or has a place of business.

K. Whoever willfully fails to file any report or to pay timely the tax due, keep any records, furnish any information, or pay any tax provided for in this Part, or willfully falsifies any record, document, or report, or files any false report or furnishes any false information to the secretary with intent to evade or defeat the payment of any tax levied in this Part shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than one year nor more than four years. Corporations may be prosecuted under this Subsection and upon conviction shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars.

Amended by Acts 1964, No. 384, §1; Acts 1970, No. 565, §1; Acts 1972, No. 532, §3; Acts 1978, No. 441, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1979; Acts 1987, No. 696, §1; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §10; Acts 2011, No. 327, §1, eff. June 29, 2011; Acts 2014, No. 329, §1, eff. July 1, 2014; Acts 2016, No. 7, 1st Ex. Sess., §1, eff. April 1, 2016.