GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999
SESSION LAW 1999-205
AN ACT TO MODIFY THE PENALTIES FOR THE TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY ROOM OCCUPANCY TAX.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. Section 1 of Chapter 969 of the 1985 Session Laws, as it applies to Transylvania County, reads as rewritten:
"Section 1. Transylvania Occupancy
Tax. (a) Authorization and Scope. The board of commissioners
of a county Transylvania County may by resolution, after not
less than 10 days' public notice and after a public hearing held pursuant
thereto, levy a room occupancy tax of three percent (3%) of the gross
receipts derived from the rental of any room, lodging, or similar accommodation
furnished by a hotel, motel, inn, or similar place within the county that is
subject to sales tax imposed by the State under G.S. 105-164.4(3). This
tax is in addition to any State or local sales tax. This tax does not
apply to accommodations furnished by nonprofit charitable, educational, or
religious organizations.
(b) Administration.
A tax levied under this section shall be levied, administered, collected, and
repealed as provided in G.S. 153A-155. The penalties provided in G.S.
153A-155 apply to a tax levied under this section. Collection.
Every operator of a business subject to the tax levied under this act shall, on
and after the effective date of the levy of the tax, collect the tax.
This tax shall be collected as part of the charge for furnishing a taxable
accommodation. The tax shall be stated and charged separately from the
sales records, and shall be paid by the purchaser to the operator of the
business as trustee for and on account of the county. The tax shall be
added to the sales price and shall be passed on to the purchaser instead of
being borne by the operator of the business. The county shall design,
print, and furnish to all appropriate businesses and persons in the county the
necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full
collection of the tax.
(c) Administration.
The county shall administer a tax levied under this act. A tax levied
under this act is due and payable to the county finance officer in monthly
installments on or before the 15th day of the month following the month in
which the tax accrues. Every person, firm, corporation, or association
liable for the tax shall, on or before the 15th day of each month, prepare and
render a return on a form prescribed by the county. The return shall state
the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from rentals upon which
the tax is levied.
A return filed with the county finance officer under this
act is not a public record as defined by G.S. 132-1 and may not be disclosed
except as required by law.
(d) Penalties.
A person, firm, corporation, or association who fails or refuses to file the
return required by this act shall pay a penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) for
each day's omission. In case of failure or refusal to file the return or pay
the tax for a period of 30 days after the time required for filing the return
or for paying the tax, there shall be an additional tax, as a penalty, of five
percent (5%) of the tax due for each additional month or fraction thereof until
the tax is paid.
Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade a
tax imposed under this act or who willfully fails to pay the tax or make and
file a return shall, in addition to all other penalties provided by law, be
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one
thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment not to exceed six months, or
both. The board of commissioners may, for good cause shown, compromise or
forgive the penalties imposed by this subsection.
(e) Use of Tax Revenue.
Except as provided in Section 2 of this act for Durham County, a taxing
county Transylvania County shall place revenue collected from a tax
levied under this act in a special Travel and Tourism Fund. Revenue in
this Fund may be used only to promote travel and tourism and for
tourism-related expenditures in the county. Transylvania
County.
The following definitions apply in this subsection:
(1) Promote travel and tourism. - To advertise or market an area or activity, publish and distribute pamphlets and other materials, conduct market research, or engage in similar promotional activities that attract tourists or business travelers to the area; the term includes administrative expenses incurred in engaging in these activities.
(2) Tourism-related expenditures. - Expenditures that, in the judgment of the governing authority, are designed to increase the use of lodging facilities, meeting facilities, and convention facilities in a county by attracting tourists or business travelers to the county. The term includes tourism-related capital expenditures.
(f) Effective
Date of Levy. A tax levied under this act shall become effective on the
date specified in the resolution levying the tax. That date must be the
first day of a calendar month, however, and may not be earlier than the first
day of the second month after the date the resolution is adopted.
(g) Repeal.
A tax levied under this act may be repealed by a resolution adopted by the
board of commissioners of the county. Repeal of a tax levied under this
act shall become effective on the first day of a month and may not become
effective until the end of the fiscal year in which the repeal resolution was
adopted. Repeal of a tax levied under this act does not affect a liability
for a tax that attached before the effective date of the repeal, nor does it
affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of
the repeal."
Section 2. County Administrative Provisions. Section 3(b) of S.L. 1997-102, as amended by Section 2 of S.L. 1997-255, Section 2 of S.L. 1997-342, Section 3 of S.L. 1997-364, Section 6 of S.L. 1997-410, and Section 2 of S.L. 1998-14, reads as rewritten:
"(b) This section applies
only to Avery, Brunswick, Davie, Madison, Nash, Person, Randolph, and
Scotland Scotland, and Transylvania Counties."
Section 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 1999, and applies to taxes due on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 22nd day of June, 1999.
s/ Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives