§ 16-9-109 — State-wide imposition of tax; prepaid wireless; collection; distribution; immunity

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, on and
after July 1, 2016, there is imposed a 911 emergency tax of one
and five-tenths percent (1.5%) on every retail sale of prepaid
wireless communications access in Wyoming. The tax shall not be
imposed on sales of prepaid wireless communications access
intended for resale or upon any state or local governmental
entity.
(b) A service supplier who sells prepaid wireless
communications access shall collect the tax imposed by
subsection (a) of this section from each purchaser of prepaid
wireless communications access, which purchaser shall be
considered a service user. The amount of the tax shall be
either separately stated on an invoice, receipt or other similar
document that is provided to the service user by the service
supplier or shall be otherwise disclosed to the service user.
(c) For purposes of this section, a retail sale of prepaid
wireless communications access occurs in Wyoming if the
transaction would be sourced to Wyoming under W.S.
39-15-104(f)(xi)(C).
(d) The tax imposed by subsection (a) of this section is
the liability of the service user and the service supplier. The
service supplier shall be liable to remit all taxes due or
collected as provided in subsection (g) of this section.
(e) If the tax collected pursuant to this section is
separately stated on an invoice, receipt or similar document
provided to the service user by the service supplier, the tax
shall not be included in the base for calculating any other tax,
fee, surcharge or other charge imposed by this state, any
political subdivision of the state or any intergovernmental
agency.
(f) When prepaid wireless communication access is sold
with one (1) or more other products or services for a single,
nonitemized price, the tax authorized by subsection (a) of this
section shall not be applied to a retail sale of prepaid
wireless communications access of ten (10) or fewer minutes or
which has a value of five dollars ($5.00) or less.
(g) All taxes collected under subsection (a) of this
section shall be remitted by the service supplier who collected
them to the department of revenue as follows:
(i) A service supplier shall remit to the department
of revenue all monies collected at the times and in the manner
provided by W.S. 39-15-107(a). The department of revenue may
establish by rule procedures reasonably necessary to facilitate
the transfer of these monies. The service supplier shall be
subject to the penalty and enforcement provisions provided by
W.S. 39-15-108 for any failure to collect or remit funds;
(ii) A service supplier remitting collected taxes may
deduct and retain three percent (3%) of the taxes collected as
the cost of administration for collecting the taxes;
(iii) The audit and appeal procedures applicable to
the collection of state sales taxes shall apply to the
collection and remittance of taxes authorized by this section;
(iv) Pursuant to rules adopted for this purpose, the
department of revenue shall establish a procedure by which
service suppliers shall document that a transaction is not a
retail sale subject to the tax imposed by this section. The
procedure shall be substantially similar to the procedure used
to document a sale for resale transaction for purposes of sales
tax.
(h) The monies collected by the department of revenue
under this section shall not be general revenues of the state
and shall be held by the department in a separate account for
distribution as follows:
(i) The department shall deduct one percent (1%) of
the total monies collected to cover its administrative expenses
and costs, which amount shall be remitted to the treasurer for
credit to the general fund;
(ii) After deduction of the amount authorized by
paragraph (i) of this subsection, the department shall pay all
remaining amounts collected to each county that imposes and
collects the 911 emergency tax authorized by W.S. 16-9-103;
(iii) The payment authorized by paragraph (ii) of
this subsection shall be remitted to the county no later than
fifteen (15) days after the close of the calendar quarter and is
subject to the requirements of paragraph (iv) of this
subsection;
(iv) Each county receiving payment pursuant to
paragraph (ii) of this subsection shall receive three percent
(3%) of the total amount distributed pursuant to paragraph (ii)
of this subsection. Each county shall receive the remaining
balance of the amount distributed under paragraph (ii) of this
subsection in proportion to the percentage that the county’s
total population relates to the state’s total population;
(v) If a governing body other than a county imposes a
911 emergency tax pursuant to W.S. 16-9-103, the county in which
that governing body is located shall divide all monies received
by the county pursuant to paragraph (iv) of this subsection
equally between the county and the governing body;
(vi) All funds received by any governing body
pursuant to this subsection shall be expended only for the
purposes authorized by W.S. 16-9-105;
(vii) Amounts collected by any governing body
pursuant to this subsection in excess of necessary expenditures
within any fiscal year shall be carried forward to subsequent
years and shall be used only for the purposes authorized by W.S.
16-9-105;
(viii) The department of revenue may promulgate rules
necessary to implement this subsection.
(j) The department of revenue and the Wyoming public
service commission shall jointly report to the joint
corporations, elections and political subdivisions committee on
or before July 1, 2019 and every four (4) years thereafter. The
report required by this subsection shall contain an analysis of
the tax rate imposed by subsection (a) of this section and shall
determine whether that tax rate places a tax burden on
purchasers of prepaid wireless communication access which is
substantially equivalent to the tax burden imposed by W.S.
16-9-103(b). If the tax burden imposed by this section is not
substantially equivalent to the tax burden imposed by W.S.
16-9-103(b), the department and the commission shall advise the
committee on the tax rate that would make the burden imposed by
the two (2) taxes equivalent. The department of revenue and the
Wyoming public service commission may adopt rules requiring the
reporting of sales data or other information necessary to
complete the analysis required by this subsection.