Section 11-51-208 Collection of Taxes by Department of Revenue - Reports; Costs; Enabling Act; Rules and Regulations; Assessment, Rates of Interest.

(a) Municipalities may, upon request of the municipal governing body, engage the Department of Revenue to collect and administer their municipal sales, use, rental, and lodgings tax. Subject to subsections (c) and (d), the Department of Revenue shall collect and administer the municipal sales, use, rental, and lodgings tax on behalf of the requesting municipality. The department shall prepare and distribute reports, forms, and other information as may be necessary to provide for the collection and administration of any municipal tax it collects and administers and, on request, shall make all reports available for inspection by the governing body of the municipality. In collecting and administering a municipal sales, use, rental, or lodgings tax, the department shall have all the authority and duties as it has in connection with the collection and administration of the corresponding state tax including, without limitation, the provisions of Chapters 2A, 12, 23, and 26 of Title 40. (b)(1) The Commissioner of Revenue shall deposit into the State Treasury all municipal taxes collected and, on a bi-weekly basis, shall certify to the Comptroller the amount of taxes collected for the approximate two-week period immediately preceding the certification and the amount, less the department’s actual cost of collection and administration, to be distributed to each municipality, which shall be paid to the treasurer or other custodian of funds of the municipality within three days after certification thereof. (2) The department shall charge each municipality the actual cost to the department for collecting and administering its tax. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the charge shall not exceed two percent of the amount collected for each municipality. At least once each month, the Comptroller shall issue a warrant to the department for the collection and administration charges due as determined by the Commissioner of Revenue. Payment shall be from funds collected under this section and shall be the actual cost of collection and administration, not to exceed two percent of the amount collected for each municipality. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department shall not charge a fee to the municipality, city, or town for the cost of filing, payment processing, and remittance services relating to any tax authorized to be filed under the ONE SPOT system of the department. References in this subsection to filing, payment processing, and remittance services shall mean and refer only to the ONE SPOT system to file and pay taxes authorized to be filed thereunder, and shall not include the collection and administration of local taxes as defined in Section 11-3-11.3(i). (3) Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, the department, in cooperation with the office of the Examiner of Public Accounts, shall recompute its actual costs for collection and administration of municipal taxes for the preceding fiscal year. Any collection and administration over-charge shall be redistributed to the municipalities for which the department collects and administers local taxes on a pro rata basis of each municipality’s receipts. No undercharge shall be recovered, either directly or indirectly, from any municipality. (c) Except where the department is collecting on July 1, 1998, any municipality which has a tax levy that will be collected and administered by the department pursuant to the provisions of this section shall forward a certified copy of the enabling act, ordinance, or resolution to the department at least 60 days prior to the first day of the first month on which the department is to begin collecting and administering the tax. (d) A new levy, or a levy changed by an amendment of a heretofore adopted levy, which will be collected and administered under this section shall not be subject to collection and administration by the department until the first day of the month next following the expiration of 60 days after receipt by the department of a certified copy of the enabling act, ordinance, or resolution with any amendments thereto. (e) Subject to the provisions of this section, the department shall from time to time issue rules for making returns and for ascertainment, assessment, collection, and administration of taxes subject to the provisions of this section as it may deem necessary to enforce its provisions and shall furnish any county or municipal governing body with a copy of those rules within 15 days of final adoption. Upon request, the department shall furnish any taxpayer with a copy of those rules. (f) Any self-administered municipal governing body, as defined in Section 40-2A-3(21), may elect, by the adoption of an ordinance or resolution, to assess interest on any tax delinquency. Any such assessment of interest shall be consistent with the provisions of Section 40-23-2.1. Any self-administered municipal governing body may also elect, by the adoption of an ordinance or resolution, to pay interest on any refund of tax erroneously paid. In the event that the governing body elects to assess interest on any tax delinquency, the governing body must also elect to pay interest, at the same rate charged by the municipality on tax delinquencies, on any refund of tax erroneously paid. The applicable interest rate to be charged by or due from the municipality shall be determined pursuant to Section 40-1-44. References in this subsection to “erroneously paid” taxes on which interest shall be due to the taxpayer shall only mean and refer to taxes erroneously paid to the self-administered municipality or its agent as a result of any error, omission, or inaccurate advice by or on behalf of the self-administered municipality, including in connection with a prior examination of its books and records by the self-administered municipality or its agent. (g) The applicable interest rate to be assessed on any tax delinquency or paid on any refund of erroneously paid taxes with respect to all municipal sales, use, rental, and lodgings tax levies collected and administered by the department shall be determined in accordance with Section 40-1-44. (h) For the purpose of this section, the terms collection and administration shall have the same meaning as in Section 11-3-11.3(i).