§306. Returns and payment of tax; penalty for absorption

A. General provisions. (1)(a) Except as hereafter provided, the taxes levied hereunder shall be due and shall be payable monthly. For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of tax payable, all dealers shall transmit, on or before the twentieth day of the month following the month in which this tax becomes effective, to the secretary of revenue, upon forms prescribed, prepared, and furnished by him, returns showing the gross sales, purchases, gross proceeds from lease or rental, gross payments for lease or rental, gross proceeds derived from sales of services, or gross payments for services, as the case may be, arising from all taxable transactions during the preceding calendar month. Thereafter, like returns shall be prepared and transmitted to the secretary by all dealers on or before the twentieth day of each month for the preceding calendar month. These returns shall show any further information the secretary may require to enable him to correctly compute and collect the tax levied. Every dealer, at the time of making the return required hereunder, shall compute and remit to the secretary the required tax due for the preceding calendar month, and failure to so remit such tax shall cause said tax to become delinquent.

(b) However, whenever the taxes due hereunder from a dealer average less than five hundred dollars per month, the taxes hereunder shall be due and payable quarterly by the dealer, and the return required from the dealer for the quarter shall be filed on or before the twentieth day of the first month of the next succeeding quarter. The secretary shall provide by regulation for the period and method of determining, under this proviso, the average taxes due from a dealer. Any dealer who is required to file his sales tax return on a quarterly basis, as provided above, may file his returns and pay the tax on a monthly basis after first having received written approval from the secretary to do so. Application to file monthly must be furnished to the secretary in writing and will set forth complete justification for the shorter reporting period.

(c) Whenever the taxes due to the state or any single tax collector are from the state acting as a dealer through any department, agency, board, commission, or other state entity, the taxes shall be due and payable annually, and the return shall be filed and tax paid on or before the twentieth day of the month following the end of the state's fiscal year. However, if the accumulated sales taxes due hereunder to the state or any single tax collector equal or exceed five hundred dollars by the last day of any calendar month prior to the close of the state's fiscal year, the taxes shall be due and payable and the return shall be filed and the tax paid on or before the twentieth day of the calendar month following the calendar month during which the five hundred dollar threshold is exceeded.

(d) In addition to the provisions of this Section requiring monthly or quarterly filing of returns, dealers liable for the sales and use taxes of political subdivisions may file letter returns and remit such political subdivision taxes pursuant to R.S. 33:2720.1.

(2)(a) Gross proceeds from rentals or leases shall be reported and the tax shall be paid with respect thereto, in accordance with rules and regulations for reporting as established by the collector following the month in which the payment for the lease or rental is actually collected by lessor.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, lessors of property to be used offshore as provided for in R.S. 47:301(4)(d)(ii) shall not be required to collect or otherwise pay rental taxes on the gross proceeds from such leases and rentals.

(3)(a) For the purpose of compensating the dealer in accounting for and remitting the tax levied by this Chapter, each dealer shall be allowed .935 percent of the amount of tax due and accounted for and remitted to the secretary in the form of a deduction in submitting his report and paying the amount due by him, provided the amount of any credit claimed for taxes already paid to a wholesaler shall not be deducted in computing the commission allowed the dealer hereunder. The aggregate state compensation for a dealer who operates one or more business locations within Louisiana shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars per calendar month. This compensation shall be allowed only if the payment of the dealer is timely paid and the return is timely filed. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the calculation of this deduction shall be based only on the taxes levied pursuant to R.S. 47:302, 321, 331, and R.S. 51:1286. There shall be no compensation for the taxes accounted for and remitted pursuant to R.S. 47:321.1 or any other sales tax levied by the state.

(b) Municipalities are hereby authorized to pay compensation to their sales tax dealers in any amounts designated by the governing body of the municipality.

(4) The collector, for good cause, may extend, for not to exceed thirty days, the time for making any returns required under the provisions of this Chapter.

(5) For the purpose of collecting and remitting to the state the tax imposed by this Chapter, the dealer is hereby declared to be the agent of the state.

(6) In making their returns to the secretary, dealers who have paid advance sales tax on purchases of tangible personal property for resale during periods when R.S. 47:306(B) was effective shall deduct from the total tax collected by them upon the retail sale of the commodity the amount of tax paid by them to manufacturers, wholesalers, jobbers and suppliers during the period reported, provided tax paid invoices evidencing the payment are retained by the dealer claiming the refund or credit. If the amount so paid during any reporting period amounts to more than the tax collected by him for the period reported, the excess so paid shall be allowed as refund or credit against the tax collected by the dealer during the succeeding period or periods.

(7) The state, and any parish, municipality, school board, and any other tax authority which levies a sales and use tax is hereby prohibited from requiring manufacturers, wholesalers, jobbers, suppliers, or any other taxpayer to collect such sales tax in advance from dealers to whom they sell for the purpose of resale.

B, C. Repealed by Acts 2007, No. 393, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.

D. Registration by nonresident prime contractor. (1) Prior to commencing work on any construction contract which in the aggregate exceeds three thousand dollars, any nonresident prime contractor, as defined in R.S. 47:9(A)(2), shall:

(a) Register the contract with the Department of Revenue in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:9(A)(1) and obtain a certificate in a form to be determined by the secretary, which certificate shall identify the construction project registered and recite the total amount of the contract.

(b) File with the department a surety bond or a blanket surety bond for all contracts, sufficient to cover all taxes due on the contract or contracts, in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:9(B)(1).

(c) Register the contract with the central collection agency for local sales and use taxes of the parish in which the contract is to be performed. The central collection agency shall issue a certificate in a form determined by the secretary, following the requirements in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, certifying that all requirements for surety bonds established by local ordinances applicable to the location of the project have been met.

(2)(a) No state entity, including but not limited to the office of state fire marshal, code enforcement and building safety or local governing authority charged with the responsibility of issuing any permit, license, or certificate necessary for the lawful commencement of any construction contract subject to the provisions of this Subsection, shall issue such permit, license, or certificate until sufficient proof of possession of the certificates obtained as provided in this Subsection for that project is shown by the applicant.

(b) Any person failing to execute any bond herein provided before beginning the performance of any contract shall be denied the right to perform such contract until he complies with such requirements. The secretary of the Department of Revenue shall have the right to enjoin the performance of the contract until a satisfactory bond is executed and filed, and the secretary may also impose a penalty for commencing of two hundred dollars or two percent of the construction contract, whichever is greater.

(3) Within thirty days of the completion and acceptance of the contract project, the prime contractor shall submit to the department, on a form provided or approved by the department, a complete and accurate accounting of all state sales and use taxes which became due as a result of the contract. In the event that there are additional taxes due, they shall be submitted with the accounting.

(4) The secretary of the Department of Revenue shall promulgate such rules and regulations and may have printed such forms as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Subsection.

(5) Nothing herein shall be construed so as to affect the licensing requirements of R.S. 47:341 et seq.

E. Payment of tax by a licensed vehicle dealer. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, every vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to Title 32 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 who sells a vehicle at retail shall remit all taxes collected pursuant to R.S. 47:303(B) no later than forty days from the date of sale or ten days from receipt by the licensed vehicle dealer of the title to any vehicle accepted in trade, if the title is received by the dealer in excess of thirty days from the date of sale provided that the deadline for the submission of taxes cannot be extended under this provision beyond the ninetieth day from the date of the sale. Any licensed vehicle dealer claiming under this provision an extension for the remittance of taxes beyond the fortieth day from the date of vehicle sale shall document, through a means satisfactory to the vehicle commissioner, the actual date that the dealer received title to the vehicle accepted in trade. The vehicle commissioner, for good cause shown, may extend the time for remitting the taxes for these licensed vehicle dealers for a period not to exceed ninety days and may waive penalties on payment of taxes by a licensed vehicle dealer who remits the taxes later than forty days.

Acts 1990, No. 388, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 173, §1, eff. July 2, 1991; Acts 1991, No. 709, §1, eff. July 1, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 893, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 1994, No. 8, §1, eff. June 7, 1994; Acts 1995, No. 284, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 1186, §1; Acts 1996, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 32, §1; Acts 1997, No. 787, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1187, §2; Acts 1998, No. 24, §1, eff. June 24, 1998; Acts 1998, No. 50, §1, eff. July 1, 1998; Acts 1998, No. 62, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 7, §1, eff. July 1, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 68, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 215, §1, eff. July 1, 2001; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 98, §1, eff. April 18, 2002; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 99, §1, eff. April 18, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 43, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2006, No. 457, §1, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2007, No. 393, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2008; Acts 2007, No. 393, §§2, 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2008, No. 707, §1; Acts 2013, No. 425, §1, eff. July 1, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 415, §1; Acts 2016, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 15, §1, eff. April 1, 2016.