§305.74. Exemption; sales tax holiday; November 20th and 21st, 2020; Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, and the COVID-19 pandemic

            A.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the sales and use tax levied by the state of Louisiana shall not apply to the first two thousand five hundred dollars of the sales price or cost price of any consumer purchases of tangible personal property that occur on Friday, November 20, 2020, and Saturday, November 21, 2020, in order to provide tax relief for citizens recovering from Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

            (2) For purposes of this Section, "consumer purchases" shall mean purchases of items of tangible personal property other than vehicles subject to license and title. Consumer purchases shall not include the purchase of meals furnished for consumption on the premises where purchased, including to-go orders.

            B. This Section shall apply if and only if during the eligible tax exemption period one of the following occurs:

            (1) Title to or possession of an item of tangible personal property is transferred from a selling dealer to a purchaser.

            (2) A customer selects an eligible item from the selling dealer's inventory for layaway that is physically set aside in the selling dealer's inventory for future delivery to that customer.

            (3) The customer makes final payment and withdraws an item from layaway that might have been placed in layaway before the eligible tax exemption period.

            (4) The customer orders and pays for an eligible item and the selling dealer accepts the order for immediate shipment, even if delivery is made after the eligible tax exemption period, provided that the customer has not requested delayed shipment.

            C. Eligible items that customers purchase during the eligible tax exemption period with "rain checks" shall qualify for exemption, regardless of when the "rain checks" are issued. However, issuance of "rain checks" during the exemption period shall not qualify items for exemption if the otherwise eligible items are actually purchased after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period.

            D.(1) When a customer purchases an eligible item during the eligible tax exemption period and exchanges the item without additional cash consideration after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period for an essentially identical item of different size, color, or other feature, no additional tax is due.

            (2) When a customer, after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period returns an eligible item that was purchased during the eligible tax exemption period and receives credit on the purchase of a different item, the appropriate sales tax is due on the purchase of the new item.

            E. For a sixty-day period after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period, when a customer returns an item that would qualify for an exemption, no credit or refunds of sales tax shall be given unless the customer provides a receipt or invoice that shows that the state sales tax was paid or the retailer has sufficient documentation that shows that the tax was paid on the specific item. This sixty-day period is not intended to change a dealer's policy concerning the time period during which returns will be accepted.

            Acts 2020, 2^nd Ex. Sess., No. 16, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020.