§315.5.  Sales tax refund; nonprofits employing or training persons with workplace disabilities or disadvantages

A.  A qualified charitable institution which submits an application to the secretary of the Department of Revenue shall receive an exemption in the form of a restricted refund of the sales and use tax of the state which the institution has collected on the sale of donated tangible personal property or items made from such donated property; provided that, the refund is used exclusively in this state for land acquisition, capital construction, or equipment, or debt service related thereto, and/or job training, job placement, employment, or other related community services and support program costs.

B.  As used in this Section, "qualified charitable institution" means an organization which meets the following criteria:

(1)  It has qualified for exemption from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2)  Its principal place of business is within the state.

(3)  It routinely sells donated tangible personal property or items made from such donated property.

(4)  It spends at least seventy-five percent of its annual revenue on job training, job placement, the direct employment of, or other related community services or support programs for, people with workplace disabilities or disadvantages.

C.(1)(a)  The qualified charitable institution shall provide to the secretary any records of capital construction, equipment, program costs, or any other information she deems necessary in order to process or verify the use of the refund.

(b)  Qualified charitable institutions must be approved for the exemption prior to being eligible to retain sales tax collected as a restricted refund.

(c)  Once approved, the charitable institution shall file sales tax returns as required reporting the total state sales tax it has collected and take a deduction therefrom for the amount of state sales tax collected on qualifying exempt sales of donated tangible personal property or items made from donated tangible personal property.

(2)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any refund shall constitute an overpayment, as defined in R.S. 47:1621(A), and the secretary shall make a refund of such overpayment, without interest, directly to the charitable institution from the current collections of the sales and use taxes imposed by the state, and such refund shall not otherwise be subject to the requirements of R.S. 47:1621(B).  All refunds must be paid or disallowed within one year of receipt by the secretary of any such claim for refund.  Failure of the secretary to pay or disallow, in whole or in part, any claim for a refund shall entitle the charitable institution to proceed with the remedies provided in R.S. 47:1625.

(3)  The secretary may audit for and examine any refund within four years from the date the application is received and collect any refund that the secretary finds was not issued or used as provided for in this Section.

Acts 2007, No. 464, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2008.