§337.70. Penalty for failure to make timely return

            A.(1) When any taxpayer fails to make and file any return required to be made under the provisions of this Chapter before the time that the return becomes delinquent or when any taxpayer fails to timely remit to the collector the total amount of tax that is due on a return which he has filed, there shall be imposed, in addition to any other penalties provided, a specific penalty to be added to the tax in the amount of five percent of the tax owed for each and every thirty-day period after the return was required to be filed or the tax was required to be remitted, subject to the limitations of this Paragraph.

            (2) In the case of the filing of a return without remittance of the full amount due, the specific penalty imposed by this Paragraph in the amount of five percent of the tax owed for each thirty-day period shall be calculated only on the additional amount due from the taxpayer after the deduction of payments timely submitted, or submitted during any preceding thirty-day period, subject to the limitations of this Paragraph. The penalty provided by this Paragraph shall not be imposed for any thirty-day period for which a penalty for failure to file a return or for filing after the return becomes delinquent is assessed.

            (3) The penalties provided for in this Subsection shall not be imposed for more than five thirty-day periods in total for each tax return required to be filed.

            (4) The penalties for delinquent returns and failure to remit the total amount of tax due shall accrue beginning the day after the due date subject to the limitations of this Subsection.

            B. The penalties provided for by this Section shall be an obligation to be collected and accounted for in the same manner as if it were part of the tax due, and can be enforced either in a separate action or in the same action for the collection of the tax.

            C.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, any exemption granted to a taxpayer under a tax incentive contract except a contract granted pursuant to Article VII, Section 21(F) of the Constitution of Louisiana shall be suspended if at any time during the contract there is a final, nonappealable judgment against the taxpayer for nonpayment of taxes.

            (2) The collector shall send a notice by certified mail to the taxpayer at the address given in the last report filed by the taxpayer, or to any address obtainable from any private entity which will provide such address free of charge or from any federal, state, or local government entity, including but not limited to the United States Postal Service or from the United States Postal Service certified software informing him of the following:

            (a) That there is a final, nonappealable judgment against him for nonpayment of taxes.

            (b) That he has thirty days from the date of the notice to pay the tax, penalty, and interest due or the exemptions granted under the tax incentive contract will be suspended.

            (c) That the suspension will continue until the tax, penalty, and interest due under the final, nonappealable judgment are paid in full.

            (3) The provisions of this Section shall not apply if the taxpayer has paid the amount due under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63 or has entered into an installment agreement with the department for the payment of the amount due and is in compliance with the terms of the agreement.

            (4) For the purposes of this Subsection, during the period of suspension, the exemptions granted under the tax incentive contract are inoperable and of no effect.

            Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2022, No. 87, §1.