§337.17.  Treatment of tax by dealer

A.(1)  The tax levied by local ordinance shall be collected by the dealer from the purchaser or consumer, except as provided for the collection of tax on motor vehicles in R.S. 47:337.15(B) and the collection of tax on property leased or rented for use offshore in R.S. 47:301(4)(d)(ii).  The dealer shall collect the sales tax on off-road vehicles and remit them directly to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections upon application for certificate of title and registration as required for the registration and licensing of other vehicles under the provisions of Subsection B of this Section.  The dealer shall collect the sales taxes on off-road vehicles from out-of-state residents who purchase off-road vehicles in this state and remit the sales taxes due directly to the collector.

(2)  The dealer shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from the purchaser, or in respect to nonpayment of the tax by the purchaser, as if the tax were a part of the purchase price of the property, or charges for services, and payable at the time of sale.

(3)  The taxing authority may be joined as a party in any action or proceeding brought by the dealer to collect the tax.

(4)  Where the purchaser has failed to pay and a dealer has failed to collect a tax upon a sale, as imposed by the local ordinance, then in addition to all other rights, obligations, and remedies provided, such tax shall be payable by the purchaser directly to the taxing authority, and it shall be the duty of this purchaser to file a return thereof with the collector and pay the tax imposed thereon to the collector on the first day of the month after such sale was made or rendered, to be transmitted on or before the twentieth day of such month.

B.  Every dealer located outside the taxing jurisdiction making sales of tangible personal property for distribution, storage, use, or other consumption, in the taxing jurisdiction, shall at the time of making sales collect the tax imposed by the local ordinance from the purchaser.

C.  Dealers shall, as far as practicable, add the amount of the tax imposed under the local ordinance in conformity with the schedule or schedules to be prescribed by the secretary of the Department of Revenue pursuant to authority conferred herein, to the sale price or charge, which shall be a debt from the purchaser or consumer to the dealer, until paid, and shall be recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts.  Any dealer who neglects, fails, or refuses to collect the tax herein provided shall be liable for and pay the tax himself.

D.  Where the tax collected for any period is in excess of the tax rate provided by the local ordinance, the total local tax collected must be paid over to the collector less the compensation to be allowed the dealer as provided by the local ordinance.  This provision shall be construed with other provisions of the local ordinance and given effect so as to result in the payment to the collector of the total local tax collected if in excess of the tax rate provided.

E.  Any dealer who fails, neglects, or refuses to collect the tax herein provided, either by himself or through his agents or employees, shall, in addition to the penalty of being liable for and paying the tax himself, be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than three months, or both.

F.(1)  No dealer shall advertise or hold out to the public, in any manner, directly or indirectly, that he will absorb all or part of the tax or that he will relieve the purchaser from the payment of all or any part of the tax unless:

(a)  The dealer includes in the advertisement that any portion of the tax not paid by the purchaser will be remitted on his behalf by the dealer.

(b)  The dealer furnishes the purchaser with written evidence that the dealer will be liable for and pay any tax the purchaser was relieved from paying under this Paragraph himself.

(2)  If a dealer advertises that any portion of the tax not paid by the purchaser will be remitted on his behalf by the dealer, the purchaser shall not be liable for the payment of that portion of the tax.

(3)  Whoever violates this provision with respect to advertising shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars or more than two hundred fifty dollars, or imprisoned for not more than three months, or both.  For a second or subsequent offense, the penalty shall be double.

G.  The dealer or seller is permitted and required to state and collect the tax separately from the price paid by the purchaser.

H.  The use of tokens is forbidden.  The collector shall rely upon regulations promulgated by the secretary of the Department of Revenue that prescribe the method and the schedule of the amounts to be collected from the purchasers, lessees, or consumers in respect to any receipt upon which a tax is imposed.  The amount of tax to be collected by the dealer and paid by the purchaser shall in each transaction comply with the schedule so provided.

I.  The sums of money collected by the dealer for payment of sales and use taxes imposed by the taxing authority shall be and remain the property of the taxing authority and deemed held in trust for the taxing authority.

Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003.