§337.23. Uniform electronic local return and remittance system; official record of tax rates
and exemptions; filing and remittance of local sales and use taxes; penalties for
violations
A.
(1)The legislature recognizes both the need to make Louisiana a better
environment in which to do business and the complexities of the existing sales and use tax
system. It is the intention of this Section to provide taxpayers with a simple, efficient, and
cost-effective means of transmitting accurate sales and use tax returns and remittances to
political subdivisions of the state from a central site in the quickest manner possible.
(2)A taxpayer may file a sales and use tax return of a taxing authority and remit any
tax, interest, penalty, or other charge due by means of the uniform electronic local re
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§337.23. Uniform electronic local return and remittance system; official record of tax rates
and exemptions; filing and remittance of local sales and use taxes; penalties for
violations
A.(1) The legislature recognizes both the need to make Louisiana a better
environment in which to do business and the complexities of the existing sales and use tax
system. It is the intention of this Section to provide taxpayers with a simple, efficient, and
cost-effective means of transmitting accurate sales and use tax returns and remittances to
political subdivisions of the state from a central site in the quickest manner possible.
(2) A taxpayer may file a sales and use tax return of a taxing authority and remit any
tax, interest, penalty, or other charge due by means of the uniform electronic local return and
remittance system provided for in this Section unless insufficient funds are appropriated to
fund the system.
B.(1) The system by which such taxpayers file electronically and pay their taxes and
by which the information provided for in Subsection H of this Section is to be posted on the
internet shall be managed, maintained, and supervised by the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales
Tax Board, hereinafter referred to in this Section as the "board". The Uniform Electronic
Local Return and Remittance Advisory Committee shall provide advice and may make
enforceable recommendations to the board for consideration with regard to the design,
implementation, operation, and maintenance of the system in the manner provided for by this
Section. The advisory committee is hereby created under the jurisdiction of the board and
shall be composed of the following members:
(a) The secretary of the Department of Revenue or his designee.
(b) The chairman of the board, or in the absence of the chairman, the vice chairman
of the board.
(c) A member appointed by the governor from a list of three names provided by the
Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants, to serve at the pleasure of the governor.
(d) Two members who shall each be the head of a collector's office, appointed by the
board from a list of six names provided by the board of directors of the Louisiana
Association of Tax Administrators, to serve for a three-year term.
(e) A representative of a business that is required to file sales and use tax returns for
multiple collectors in the state, who shall be appointed by the governor from a list of three
names provided by the Louisiana Retailers Association. The member shall serve at the
pleasure of the governor.
(f) A representative of a business that is required to file sales and use tax returns for
multiple collectors in the state, who shall be appointed by the governor from a list of three
names provided by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. The member shall
serve at the pleasure of the governor.
(2) Each appointment by the governor shall be submitted to the Senate for
confirmation. All vacancies shall be filled in the same manner that is provided for the
original member.
(3) The members of the advisory committee shall serve without additional
compensation except for their reasonable and necessary expenses related to the performance
of their duties as members of the committee, and then only in amounts as is provided by law
for state employees.
(4) Meetings shall be called by the chair at a time and place to be selected by the
chair, or at a time and place provided for upon the written request of three members. Four
members of the advisory committee shall be considered a quorum, and the committee may
make official recommendations and take other official action upon the affirmative vote of
four members.
(5)(a) If at any time the advisory committee believes the board has taken action
contrary to the advice or recommendation of the committee, it may make a written request
to the board specifying the advice or recommendation, the action which the committee
believes the board has taken, and asking the board to provide written reasons for the action.
The chairman of the board shall provide a written answer to the chairman of the committee
within fifteen days or a longer time as the committee allows.
(b) If, after receiving and considering the written answer of the board, the committee
believes it unsatisfactory, the committee may make a written request to the Senate
Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the House Committee on Ways and Means
specifying the recommendation and asking the committees to make it an enforceable
recommendation.
(c)(i) The request of the advisory committee shall be considered a proposed rule or
regulation of the board and shall be subjected to the same oversight procedure provided for
in the Administrative Procedure Act, except for the need for publication.
(ii) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, if the oversight procedure under
the Administrative Procedure Act results in approval of the advisory committee's request to
make its recommendation an enforceable recommendation, then the advisory committee's
recommendation shall be followed by the board.
C. The uniform electronic local return and remittance system and the posting of the
information required by Subsection H of this Section shall be managed, maintained, and
supervised by the board with the advice of the advisory committee and the secretary, and the
system shall include the following:
(1)(a) The system shall allow the taxpayer to file a sales and use tax return that is
uniform for each taxing authority except for the following:
(i) The rate of the taxing authority's tax.
(ii) The vendor's compensation allowed.
(iii) Optional exclusions or exemptions allowed by state sales and use tax law,
adopted by a local ordinance pursuant to such state law.
(iv) Exclusions and exemptions in the local ordinance which were adopted prior to
July 1, 2003, pursuant to state law authorizing its adoption, but not allowed as an exclusion
or exemption from state sales and use tax.
(v) Exclusions and exemptions adopted by local ordinance pursuant to legislation
enacted under Article VI, Section 29(D)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana, but not allowed
as an exclusion or exemption from state sales and use tax.
(vi) Penalties and interest due on the sales and use tax. The amount of penalties and
interest shall be limited as provided by law, including relevant jurisprudence, until the statute
or jurisprudence is changed.
(b) The filing and remittance shall be done at no charge to the taxpayer by the state,
the collector, or any taxing authority levying a tax.
(2) A web page through which a secured electronic local sales and use tax return may
be filed. The board shall maintain the secured electronic local sales and use tax return as
well as the web page in which the return shall be accessed by taxpayers and collectors.
(3) A system to allow for the remittance of any tax, penalty, interest, or other
amounts due.
(4) A system for the transmission and retrieval of a collector's data and funds.
D.(1) Each collector shall provide to the board and the advisory committee within
ninety days of its written request, or other time as may be allowed by the advisory committee,
the information necessary to design and maintain the system provided for in this Section.
Each collector shall follow the data validation procedures recommended by the advisory
committee and adopted by the board. If the collector fails or refuses to timely provide the
required information, the board and the advisory committee shall design and implement the
system from the best information available to them. A collector's failure or refusal to provide
the requested information as required in this Paragraph shall be an absolute defense against
any claim by a taxing authority or collector against the board or advisory committee relating
to the data utilized in the system provided for in this Section.
(2) Each collector shall provide written notification to the board and the advisory
committee by certified mail, return receipt requested, of any change in the information
provided to it pursuant to Subparagraph (C)(1)(a) of this Section thirty days prior to changes
becoming effective, or other shorter time as may be allowed by the advisory committee.
Each collector shall follow the data validation procedures recommended by the advisory
committee and adopted by the board.
E. A taxpayer may rely on the information on the uniform electronic local return and
remittance system, and the reliance shall be an absolute defense against any claim for a
taxing authority's sales and use tax.
F.(1) It shall be the duty of the board, with the advice of the advisory committee, to
design, implement, maintain, and operate the system required by this Section and to provide
the staff and equipment necessary to receive and transmit to the collectors the electronic
returns and funds.
(2)(a) It shall be the duty of the collector of each parish to provide and make
available the appropriate staff, equipment, and information necessary for the receipt and
transmission of electronic returns and funds. The board shall not be responsible for any loss
of revenue attributable to the failure of a collector to comply with the provisions of this
Paragraph.
(b) The advisory committee may determine alternate distribution methods and the
appropriate fees to be charged for these methods when a collector fails to comply with the
provisions of this Paragraph. The amount of the fee shall not exceed the cost of the alternate
distribution method.
G.(1) It is the intention of this Section only to provide to taxpayers a simple,
efficient, and cost-effective means of transmitting accurate tax returns and taxes to taxing
authorities of the state from a central site in the quickest manner possible. This Section shall
not be construed to grant to the advisory committee or the board any authority to collect or
administer taxes. In addition, any funds transmitted through the system as provided for in
this Section shall be considered the funds of the taxing authorities to be distributed by the
collector in the manner provided by local ordinances and shall not in any way be considered
state funds or funds of the board.
(2) The advisory committee shall provide a method for all questions related to the
application and interpretation of the sales and use tax law of a particular taxing authority
received by the committee, the board, or the Department of Revenue to be forwarded to the
appropriate collector for response.
H.(1)(a) In addition to the uniform electronic local return and remittance system
provided for in this Section, a link shall be created on the board's website to a web page
where the following information provided by the collectors shall be posted:
(i) Applicable tax rates.
(ii) Applicable optional exemptions enacted by a tax authority as provided for in R.S.
47:337.10.
(b) The board and the advisory committee shall be notified of any changes in the
information as provided for in Subsection D of this Section and R.S. 47:337.5. Each
collector shall follow the data validation procedures established by the advisory committee
and adopted by the board. A collector's failure or refusal to provide the information as
required in this Paragraph shall be an absolute defense against any claim by a taxing
authority or collector against the board or advisory committee relating to the data utilized in
the system provided for in this Section.
(2) The tax rates and optional exemptions posted on the web page shall be
considered an official record of the tax rates and optional exemptions, and any court, whether
requested to do so or not, shall take judicial notice thereof. A taxpayer may rely on the
optional exemptions and tax rates posted on the web page, and this reliance shall be an
absolute defense against any claim for a taxing authority's sales and use tax.
I.(1) The collector for each taxing authority may require the electronic filing and
remittance of local sales and use tax by any taxpayer required to electronically file or
electronically remit state sales and use tax by the Department of Revenue. If the local
collector for a taxing authority chooses the option of requiring the electronic filing and
remittance of local sales and use tax returns in accordance with the provisions of this
Subsection, then all taxpayers required to collect and remit sales or use tax on taxable events
occurring within the jurisdiction of the taxing authority who are required by the Department
of Revenue to electronically file and remit taxes shall file all applicable sales and use tax
returns and remittances through the electronic filing options available for those purposes;
however, in cases where the taxpayer can show cause that the electronic filing of a return and
remittance would create an undue hardship on the taxpayer, the collector for the taxing
authority may exempt the taxpayer from the requirements of this Subsection.
(2) Failure of a taxpayer to comply with the electronic filing requirements set forth
in this Subsection shall result in the collector for the taxing authority assessing a penalty of
one hundred dollars or five percent of the tax owed on the return, whichever is greater;
however, the total penalty per return shall not exceed five thousand dollars. The local
collector for the taxing authority may waive remittance and payment of the penalty in whole
or in part if the local collector determines that the failure to comply by the taxpayer was
reasonable and was attributable, not to any negligence on the part of the taxpayer, but for a
cause which is submitted to the local collector in writing.