Effective 28 Aug 2007

238.410. Transit authority sales tax — election, ballot language, amendment of tax, requirements — director of revenue, duties — trust fund established — surety bonds required — delinquent taxes, procedure. — 1. Any county transit authority established pursuant to section 238.400 may impose a sales tax of up to one percent on all retail sales made in such county which are subject to taxation under the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525. The tax authorized by this section shall be in addition to any and all other sales taxes allowed by law, except that no sales tax imposed under the provisions of this section shall be effective unless the governing body of the county, on behalf of the transit authority, submits to the voters of the county, at a county or state general, primary or special election, a proposal to authorize the transit authority to impose a tax.

2. The ballot of submission shall contain, but need not be limited to, the following language:

­­If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the qualified voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal, then the tax shall become effective on the first day of the second calendar quarter following notification to the department of revenue of adoption of the tax. If a majority of the votes cast by the qualified voters voting are opposed to the proposal, then the transit authority shall have no power to impose the sales tax authorized by this section unless and until another proposal to authorize the transit authority to impose the sales tax authorized by this section has been submitted and such proposal is approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon.

3. All revenue received by the transit authority from the tax authorized under the provisions of this section shall be deposited in a special trust fund and shall be used solely by the transit authority for construction, purchase, lease, maintenance and operation of transportation facilities located within the county for so long as the tax shall remain in effect. Any funds in such special trust fund which are not needed for current expenditures may be invested by the transit authority in accordance with applicable laws relating to the investment of county funds.

4. No transit authority imposing a sales tax pursuant to this section may repeal or amend such sales tax unless such repeal or amendment is submitted to and approved by the voters of the county in the same manner as provided in subsection 1 of this section for approval of such tax. Whenever the governing body of any county in which a sales tax has been imposed in the manner provided by this section receives a petition, signed by ten percent of the registered voters of such county voting in the last gubernatorial election, calling for an election to repeal such sales tax, the governing body shall submit to the voters of such county a proposal to repeal the sales tax imposed under the provisions of this section. If a majority of the votes cast on the proposal by the registered voters voting thereon are in favor of the proposal to repeal the sales tax, then such sales tax is repealed. If a majority of the votes cast by the registered voters voting thereon are opposed to the proposal to repeal the sales tax, then such sales tax shall remain in effect.

5. The sales tax imposed under the provisions of this section shall impose upon all sellers a tax for the privilege of engaging in the business of selling tangible personal property or rendering taxable services at retail to the extent and in the manner provided in sections 144.010 to 144.525 and the rules and regulations of the director of revenue issued pursuant thereto; except that the rate of the tax shall be the rate approved pursuant to this section. The amount reported and returned to the director of revenue by the seller shall be computed on the basis of the combined rate of the tax imposed by sections 144.010 to 144.525 and the tax imposed by this section, plus any amounts imposed under other provisions of law.

6. After the effective date of any tax imposed under the provisions of this section, the director of revenue shall perform all functions incident to the administration, collection, enforcement, and operation of the tax, and the director of revenue shall collect in addition to the sales tax for the state of Missouri the additional tax authorized under the authority of this section. The tax imposed under this section and the tax imposed under the sales tax law of the state of Missouri shall be collected together and reported upon such forms and under such administrative rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the director of revenue. In order to permit sellers required to collect and report the sales tax to collect the amount required to be reported and remitted, but not to change the requirements of reporting or remitting tax or to serve as a levy of the tax, and in order to avoid fractions of pennies, the applicable provisions of section 144.285 shall apply to all taxable transactions.

7. All applicable provisions contained in sections 144.010 to 144.525 governing the state sales tax and section 32.057, the uniform confidentiality provision, shall apply to the collection of the tax imposed by this section, except as modified in this section. All exemptions granted to agencies of government, organizations, persons and to the sale of certain articles and items of tangible personal property and taxable services under the provisions of sections 144.010 to 144.525 are hereby made applicable to the imposition and collection of the tax imposed by this section. The same sales tax permit, exemption certificate and retail certificate required by sections 144.010 to 144.525 for the administration and collection of the state sales tax shall satisfy the requirements of this section, and no additional permit or exemption certificate or retail certificate shall be required; except that the director of revenue may prescribe a form of exemption certificate for an exemption from the tax imposed by this section. All discounts allowed the retailer under the provisions of the state sales tax law for the collection of and for payment of taxes under chapter 144 are hereby allowed and made applicable to any taxes collected under the provisions of this section. The penalties provided in section 32.057 and sections 144.010 to 144.525 for a violation of those sections are hereby made applicable to violations of this section.

8. For the purposes of a sales tax imposed pursuant to this section, all retail sales shall be deemed to be consummated at the place of business of the retailer, except for tangible personal property sold which is delivered by the retailer or his agent to an out-of-state destination or to a common carrier for delivery to an out-of-state destination and except for the sale of motor vehicles, trailers, boats and outboard motors, which is provided for in subsection 12 of this section. In the event a retailer has more than one place of business in this state which participates in the sale, the sale shall be deemed to be consummated at the place of business of the retailer where the initial order for the tangible personal property is taken, even though the order must be forwarded elsewhere for acceptance, approval of credit, shipment or billing. A sale by a retailer's employee shall be deemed to be consummated at the place of business from which he works.

9. All sales taxes collected by the director of revenue under this section on behalf of any transit authority, less one percent for cost of collection which shall be deposited in the state's general revenue fund after payment of premiums for surety bonds as provided in this section, shall be deposited in the state treasury in a special trust fund, which is hereby created, to be known as the "County Transit Authority Sales Tax Trust Fund". The moneys in the county transit authority sales tax trust fund shall not be deemed to be state funds and shall not be commingled with any funds of the state. The director of revenue shall keep accurate records of the amount of money in the trust fund which was collected in each transit authority imposing a sales tax under this section, and the records shall be open to the inspection of officers of the county and the public. Not later than the tenth day of each month the director of revenue shall distribute all moneys deposited in the trust fund during the preceding month to the transit authority which levied the tax.

10. The director of revenue may authorize the state treasurer to make refunds from the amounts in the trust fund and credited to any transit authority for erroneous payments and overpayments made, and may authorize the state treasurer to redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such transit authorities. If any transit authority abolishes the tax, the transit authority shall notify the director of revenue of the action at least ninety days prior to the effective date of the repeal and the director of revenue may order retention in the trust fund, for a period of one year, of two percent of the amount collected after receipt of such notice to cover possible refunds or overpayment of the tax and to redeem dishonored checks and drafts deposited to the credit of such accounts. After one year has elapsed after the effective date of abolition of the tax in such transit authority, the director of revenue shall authorize the state treasurer to remit the balance in the account to the transit authority and close the account of that transit authority. The director of revenue shall notify each transit authority of each instance of any amount refunded or any check redeemed from receipts due the transit authority. The director of revenue shall annually report on his management of the trust fund and administration of the sales taxes authorized by this section. He shall provide each transit authority imposing the tax authorized by this section with a detailed accounting of the source of all funds received by him for the transit authority.

11. The director of revenue and any of his deputies, assistants and employees who shall have any duties or responsibilities in connection with the collection, deposit, transfer, transmittal, disbursement, safekeeping, accounting, or recording of funds which come into the hands of the director of revenue under the provisions of this section shall enter a surety bond or bonds payable to any and all transit authorities in whose behalf such funds have been collected under this section in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars; but the director of revenue may enter into a blanket bond or bonds covering himself and all such deputies, assistants and employees. The cost of the premium or premiums for the surety bond or bonds shall be paid by the director of revenue from the share of the collection retained by the director of revenue for the benefit of the state.

12. Sales taxes imposed pursuant to this section and use taxes on the purchase and sale of motor vehicles, trailers, boats, and outboard motors shall not be collected and remitted by the seller, but shall be collected by the director of revenue at the time application is made for a certificate of title, if the address of the applicant is within a county where a sales tax is imposed under this section. The amounts so collected, less the one percent collection cost, shall be deposited in the county transit authority sales tax trust fund. The purchase or sale of motor vehicles, trailers, boats, and outboard motors shall be deemed to be consummated at the address of the applicant. As used in this subsection, the term "boat" shall only include motorboats and vessels as the terms "motorboat" and "vessel" are defined in section 306.010.

13. In any county where the transit authority sales tax has been imposed, if any person is delinquent in the payment of the amount required to be paid by him under this section or in the event a determination has been made against him for taxes and penalty under this section, the limitation for bringing suit for the collection of the delinquent tax and penalty shall be the same as that provided in sections 144.010 to 144.525. Where the director of revenue has determined that suit must be filed against any person for the collection of delinquent taxes due the state under the state sales tax law, and where such person is also delinquent in payment of taxes under this section, the director of revenue shall notify the transit authority to which delinquent taxes are due under this section by United States registered mail or certified mail at least ten days before turning the case over to the attorney general. The transit authority, acting through its attorney, may join in such suit as a party plaintiff to seek a judgment for the delinquent taxes and penalty due such transit authority. In the event any person fails or refuses to pay the amount of any sales tax due under this section, the director of revenue shall promptly notify the transit authority to which the tax would be due so that appropriate action may be taken by the transit authority.

14. Where property is seized by the director of revenue under the provisions of any law authorizing seizure of the property of a taxpayer who is delinquent in payment of the tax imposed by the state sales tax law, and where such taxpayer is also delinquent in payment of any tax imposed by this section, the director of revenue shall permit the transit authority to join in any sale of property to pay the delinquent taxes and penalties due the state and to the transit authority under this section. The proceeds from such sale shall first be applied to all sums due the state, and the remainder, if any, shall be applied to all sums due such transit authority under this section.

15. The transit authority created under the provisions of sections 238.400 to 238.412 shall notify any and all affected businesses of the change in tax rate caused by the imposition of the tax authorized by sections 238.400 to 238.412.

16. In the event that any transit authority in any county with a charter form of government and with more than two hundred fifty thousand but fewer than three hundred fifty thousand inhabitants submits a proposal in any election to increase the sales tax under this section, and such proposal is approved by the voters, the county shall be reimbursed for the costs of submitting such proposal from the funds derived from the tax levied under this section.

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(L. 1991 S.B. 235 § 6, A.L. 2007 S.B. 30)