§ 26:354 — Payment and reporting of taxes; discounts; rules and regulations; enforcement;

§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.

Legislative History

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, 1 st Ex. Sess., §1, eff. April 1, 2016.