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Section 24. CORPORATE ACTIONS

No corporation organized under the laws of the state shall hereafter be dissolved, or effect a merger, reorganization or consolidation under any law of the state by the action of the stockholders, or by the decree of any court until all taxes, fees, penalties and interest imposed on the corporation in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance shall have been paid in full. No foreign corporation which has obtained authority from this state to transact business in the taxing jurisdiction may surrender such authority and withdraw from this state until all taxes, fees, penalties, interest and other charges imposed upon said corporation in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance shall have been fully paid.

Section 25. RULES, REGULATIONS, AND TAX FORMS

a. The Director shall have the power to make and publish reasonable rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this ordinance or the laws and the Constitution of this state or of the United States for the enforcement of the provisions of this ordinance and the collection of the revenues and penalties imposed thereby.

b. The Director shall design, prepare, print and furnish to all dealers, or make available to all dealers, all necessary forms for filing returns, and instructions to insure a full collection from dealers and an accounting for the taxes due. Failure of any dealer to secure such forms shall not relieve him from the payment of taxes at the time and in the manner herein provided.

c. The Director may design, prepare, print and furnish consolidated or combined forms for the use of those dealers who are required to file returns under this ordinance.

d. The cost of preparing and distributing the report forms and paraphernalia for the collection of the tax, and of the inspection and enforcement duties required herein, shall be borne out of appropriations by the Metropolitan Council, unless otherwise  specified herein.

e. The Director may revise, publish and adopt tax reporting forms, systems, and procedures which require the reporting of summary tax amounts which have been rounded off to the nearest whole dollar. The whole-dollar rounding off shall only be employed in reporting periodic summary tax amounts as directed by the Director and shall not be applied to individual transactions or tax applications.

Section 26. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS

Any notice required to be given by the Director pursuant to this ordinance may be given by personal service on the dealer for whom it is intended, or be mailed to the dealer for whom it is intended, addressed to such dealer at the address given in the last report filed by him pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance, or if no report has been filed, then to such address as may be obtainable. The mailing of such notice shall be presumptive evidence of its receipt by the dealer to whom it is addressed.

Section 27. SECURITY TAX DEPOSIT

a. The Director may require a bond or other security for the payment of any taxes, fees, interest, or penalties where any of the following conditions apply:

(1) The taxpayer is three (3) months or more delinquent in reporting or remitting due taxes, penalties or interest.

(2) A new owner has purchased a business which, at the time of the sale, is delinquent in remitting taxes, penalties or interest.

(3) The dealer is an itinerant vendor, which includes sellers at flea markets, sellers by the roadside, or any other peddler not having a fixed place of business.

b. The requirement of a security tax deposit shall be satisfied by payment in the form of cash, certified check, cashier check, or money order.

c. The security tax deposit shall be an estimate of three (3) months' tax, penalty, and interest. The estimate shall be based on the average of the past twelve (12) months' remittances of tax, penalty and interest or knowledge of finances of related businesses or other relevant information. Additional three (3) month deposits, up to a maximum of twelve (12) months, for accounts that have been delinquent at least three (3) months each year for the previous three (3) years, may be required.

d. All delinquent sales and use tax accounts shall be reviewed periodically and tax deposits shall be applied to delinquent tax accounts. Taxpayers will be notified when tax deposits are so applied and shall then be required to provide additional security tax deposits to replace the amount applied to the delinquent tax account.

e. The Director shall retain this security tax deposit until such time as the delinquent taxpayer has remained current in reporting and remitting sales and use taxes for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months or until such time as the business has ceased its operation in the taxing jurisdiction.

Section 28. DIRECTOR'S RECORDS

a. The Director shall keep a record of all of the official acts, and shall preserve copies of all rules, decisions and orders made by him. Copies of such rules, decisions, orders, and of any paper or papers filed in any office maintained by him in the administration of this ordinance may be authenticated under his official signature, and when so authenticated shall be evidence in all courts of the state of the same weight and force as the original thereof. For authenticating any such copy, he shall be paid a fee of one ($1.00) dollar, which shall be deposited in the City Parish General Fund.

b. All returns or reports filed with the taxing jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance shall be preserved for three (3) years, and thereafter may be destroyed by order of the Director.

Section 29. AUTHORITY TO HIRE EXPERTS

The Director may, on behalf of the taxing jurisdiction, contract with and hire expert consultants for the purpose of evaluating and appraising equipment and machinery and related work necessary in connection with sales and use tax audits by the Finance Department. Any such contracts of employment shall be subject to the approval of the Metropolitan Council.

Section 30. AUTHORITY FOR INSTALLMENT AGREEMENTS

The Director may enter into a formal installment payment agreement with a taxpayer for the collection of past due tax, penalty and interest, when in his opinion it is in the best interest of the taxing jurisdiction to do so.

Section 31. CLAIMS FOR REFUND

a. In the event purchases are returned to the dealer by the purchaser or consumer after the tax imposed by this ordinance has been collected or charged to the account of the consumer or user, the dealer shall be entitled to reimbursement of the amount of tax so collected or charged by him in the manner prescribed by the Director, and in case the tax has not been remitted by the dealer to the taxing jurisdiction, the dealer may deduct the same in submitting his return. Upon receipt of a sworn statement of the dealer as to the gross amount of such refunds during the period covered by such sworn statement, which period shall not be longer than ninety (90) days, the taxing jurisdiction, through the Director, shall issue to the dealer an official credit memorandum equal to the net amount remitted by the dealer for such tax collected. Such memorandum shall be accepted by the taxing jurisdiction at full face value from the dealer to whom it is issued in the remittance for subsequent taxes accrued under the provisions of this ordinance.

b. If the dealer has made an overpayment of his taxes, he may at any time within three (3) years from December 31 of the year in which the tax became due or within one (1) year from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later, on any original or additional tax assessed against him, file with the Director a claim under oath for refund, in such form as the Director may prescribe, stating the grounds thereof; however, no claim for refund shall be required or permitted to be filed with respect to a tax paid, after protest has been filed with the Director, as hereinbefore provided, or after proceedings on appeal have been finally determined. For the purpose of this section, "overpayment" means a payment of tax, penalty or interest when none was due, or the excess of the amount of tax, penalty or interest paid over the amount due. The Director is authorized to deduct travel expenses associated with conducting refund audits.

c. If upon examination of such claim for refund, it shall be determined by the Director that there has been an overpayment of tax, the amount of such overpayment shall be credited against any liability of any dealer under this ordinance, and if there be no such liability the dealer shall be entitled to a refund of the tax so overpaid. If the Director shall reject the claim for refund in whole or in part, he shall make an order accordingly and serve written notice upon such dealer. A dealer may appeal any such rejection as provided in Section 19 hereof, provided said appeal is taken within thirty (30) days from the date of such notice.

d. Where no question of fact or law is involved, and it appears from the records of the taxing jurisdiction that any monies have been erroneously or illegally collected from any dealer, or have been paid by any dealer under a mistake of fact or law, the Director may, at any time within three (3) years from December 31 of the year in which the tax became due or within one (1) year from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later, upon making a record in writing of his reasons therefore, certify that any dealer is entitled to such refund, and thereupon, the Director shall authorize the payment thereof from the current year revenues. No claim for refund shall be allowed after a lapse of the three (3) year or one (1) year period.

e. When, to secure compliance with any of the provisions of this ordinance, any monies shall have been deposited with the taxing jurisdiction by any dealer, and shall have been paid over to the taxing jurisdiction, and the Director shall be satisfied that such dealer has fully complied with all such provisions, the Director shall so certify and authorize repayment from the current year revenues to such dealer of such monies, or such part thereof as the Director shall certify has not been applied by him to the satisfaction of any indebtedness arising under this ordinance.

f. (1) Whenever the unpaid balance of an account due the dealer for the purchase of tangible personal property or the sales of services subject to sales taxation has been found to be bad in accordance with Section 166 of the United States Internal Revenue Code and has actually been charged off for federal income tax purposes, the dealer shall be entitled to reimbursement of the amount of tax previously paid by the dealer on such amounts.

(2) The refund shall be granted whenever the Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation has found the dealer to be entitled to a tax refund in accordance with R.S. 47:315(B) (4).

(3) The prescription on such refund shall begin to run from the date of signature on the federal income tax return charging off such debt.

(4) Whenever the balance of an account that had been determined to be worthless and sales tax refunded is recovered at a later date, the payment shall be reported as a new sale in the month recovered for sales tax purposes.

(5) The provisions of this Section shall apply to debts that are incurred on or after September 3, 1989.

g. Claims for credit or refunds as mentioned herein without Council approval will be limited to $10,000.

h. Interest shall be allowed on such refunds or credits as provided by R.S. 33:2718.

Section 32. CRIMINAL PENALTIES

a. Whoever shall violate the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred and No/100 ($500) Dollars or imprisonment in jail for not more than sixty (60) days, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

b. The following specific offenses shall be punishable as set out in Subsection a. above:

(1) Any person who, as a purchaser, is obligated to report and pay the tax imposed upon any purchase made by him under the foregoing circumstances of Section 7a of this ordinance, and who fails, neglects and refuses to file a return thereof with the Director and pay the tax imposed thereon, within the time stated, as required by this ordinance, after such sale is made, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(2) Any dealer who shall fail, neglect or refuse to collect the tax as provided in Section 7a of this ordinance, whether by himself or through his agents or employees, shall, in addition to the penalty of being liable for paying the tax himself, be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(3) Any person who violates Section 7c of this ordinance with respect to advertising shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(4) Any dealer who shall violate any of the provisions of Section 22 and Section 23 of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(5) Any dealer subject to the provisions of this ordinance who upon failing or refusing to furnish any return herein required to be made, or failing or refusing to furnish a supplemental return or other data required by the Director shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(6) Any dealer required to make, render, sign or verify any return as aforesaid in the provisions of this ordinance and who makes a false or fraudulent return, with intent to evade the tax hereby levied shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;

(7) The president, executive officers, managers and directors of any corporation who shall violate any provision of this ordinance with the intent to evade the tax levied under this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Such conviction shall in no way prevent other action against the corporation for the recovery of the tax, interest and penalties that may be due;

(8) Any dealer who imports or ships by truck, automobile, or other means of transportation other than common carrier and who violates Section 9a, b, or c of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such importation or shipment shall constitute a separate offense;

(9) The failure of any dealer, wholesaler, jobber, transportation company, agency or firm in the taxing jurisdiction to keep, preserve, and allow inspection of the records required in Section 11 and Section 12 of this ordinance, shall be deemed a misdemeanor; the failure to keep such records for each and every tax reporting period as required by this ordinance shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 33. SEVERABILITY

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance be held invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The Metropolitan Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases may be so declared invalid.

Section 34. SAVINGS CLAUSE

a. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to deprive any dealer of any remedy in the review of the taxes levied herein, or in any proceedings to collect such taxes given such dealer by any other law, or to deprive the taxing jurisdiction of any remedy for the enforcement of this ordinance through any procedure or remedies expressly permitted herein or by any other law.

b. Nothing herein shall be construed as repealing or altering any ordinance levying such taxes for periods prior to the effective date hereof.

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