40:48E-4 Collection of tax.

4. a. The tax shall be collected on behalf of the city by the person collecting the use or occupancy charge from the hotel or transient accommodation customer.

b. Every person required to collect any tax imposed by the ordinance shall be personally liable for the tax imposed, collected or required to be collected hereunder. Any such person shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from his customer as if the tax were a part of the use or occupancy charge and payable at the same time; provided, however, that the chief fiscal officer of the city shall be joined as a party in any action or proceeding brought to collect the tax.

c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law or administrative action to the contrary, transient space marketplaces shall be required to collect and pay on behalf of persons engaged in the business of providing transient accommodations located in this State the tax for transactions obtained through the transient space marketplace. For not less than four years following the end of the calendar year in which the transaction occurred, the transient space marketplace shall maintain the following data for those transactions consummated through the transient space marketplace:

(1) The name of the person who provided the transient accommodation;

(2) The name of the customer who procured occupancy of the transient accommodation;

(3) The address, including any unit designation, of the transient accommodation;

(4) The dates and nightly rates for which the consumer procured occupancy of the transient accommodation;

(5) The municipal transient accommodation registration number, if applicable;

(6) A statement as to whether such booking services will be provided in connection with (i) short-term rental of the entirety of such unit, (ii) short-term rental of part of such unit, but not the entirety of such unit, and/or (iii) short-term rental of the entirety of such unit, or part thereof, in which a non-short-term occupant will continue to occupy such unit for the duration of such short-term rental;

(7) The individualized name or number of each such advertisement or listing connected to such unit and the uniform resource locator (URL) for each such listing or advertisement, where applicable; and

(8) Such other information as the Division of Taxation may by rule require.

The Division of Taxation may audit transient space marketplaces as necessary to ensure data accuracy and enforce tax compliance.

d. No person required to collect any tax hereunder shall advertise or hold out to any person or to the public in general, in any manner, directly or indirectly, that the tax will not be separately charged and stated to the customer or that the tax will be refunded to the customer.

e. All revenues collected from the tax shall be remitted to the chief fiscal officer of the city on or before the dates on which municipal real property taxes are due.

f. The city shall enforce the payment of delinquent hotel occupancy taxes in the same manner as provided for municipal real property taxes.

L.1981, c.77, s.4; amended 2018, c.49, s.14; 2019, c.235, s.9.