Revision: Jan. 20, 2011, midnight
SB 40 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
09/01
SENATE BILL 40
AN ACT making technical corrections to meals and rooms tax laws.
This bill makes technical corrections to meals and rooms tax laws.
This bill was requested by the department of revenue administration.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0938
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT making technical corrections to meals and rooms tax laws.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Suspension and Revocation of Licenses; Appeal. Amend RSA 78-A:5, II to read as follows:
II. Any operator aggrieved by a suspension, revocation or refusal of the commissioner may appeal from the ruling either by application to the board of tax and land appeals or by petition to the superior court in the county in which he or she resides or conducts his or her operation within 10 days after receiving written notice of the commissioner’s ruling in the manner prescribed in RSA 78-A:15. The board of tax and land appeals or the court, as the case may be, shall hear the appeal forthwith. If the appealing operator files a bond running to the state in an amount fixed by the board of tax and land appeals or the court, with a surety company authorized to do business in the state as surety, conditioned on the payment of taxes due and to become due during the pendency of the appeal, the ruling appealed from is inoperative if it is a ruling of suspension or revocation. [If the ruling appealed from is a refusal to issue a license, the commissioner shall issue the license during the pendency of the appeal if the appeal bond is given.]
2 Collection of Tax; Reference to Tax Rate Corrected. Amend RSA 78-A:7, I(a) to read as follows:
I.(a) The operator shall either state the amount of the tax to each occupant, purchaser of a meal, or renter, or state that the tax is included in the price of the occupancy, meal, or gross rental receipts received. If the amount of the gratuity is not separately stated, the purchaser’s or occupant’s contract or receipt shall include the following language:
“The [8] 9 percent tax on meals and rooms is included for the costs of meals and lodging only.”
3 Collection of Tax; Gender Neutral. Amend RSA 78-A:7, II to read as follows:
II. Each operator shall keep books and records in a form acceptable to the department showing the amount of all taxes collected. The operator shall pay the taxes over to the state as provided in this section. If the department believes that special action is necessary because payment of taxes collected may be in jeopardy, it may direct an operator to keep all taxes collected separate from any other funds. As provided in paragraph V, the department may require that the taxes be periodically deposited in a bank designated by the department, in an account in the name of the department. The department may withdraw these tax collections from the bank account and apply them to the payment of the taxes due from the operator. When an operator commingles tax money with money belonging to him or her, the claim of the state for the tax is traceable, is enforceable against all other claims and takes precedence over all other claims against the commingled funds. No taxes collected by an operator under this chapter may be sent outside the state without the written consent of the department.
4 Collection of Tax; Reference to Tax Rate Corrected. Amend RSA 78-A:7, IV to read as follows:
IV. In lieu of keeping detailed records of taxes collected, and in lieu of payment of the taxes collected under this chapter, an operator may, in writing, elect to compute the amount of taxes due at [8] 9 percent of the total taxable rent, charge for meals, or gross rental receipts received by it, or both, exclusive of the taxes collected on such rents, charges, and gross rental receipts. If this election is made, the operator may not change the method of computing taxes without the written consent of the department. Any balance of the tax remaining in possession of the operator may be retained by it.
5 New Paragraph; Collection of Tax; Separate Bank Account. Amend RSA 78-A:7 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:
V. When the commissioner or his or her designee, in his or her discretion, deems it necessary to protect the revenues to be obtained under this chapter, the commissioner may require an operator to maintain a separate bank account in a federally insured bank chartered under the laws of New Hampshire or the federal government, with a branch within the state for the deposit of meals and rooms tax. All meals and rooms tax collected by the operator shall be deposited at least weekly in the separate bank account for monthly remittance to the state under RSA 78-A:8.
6 Surety Bonds. Amend RSA 78-A:8-b to read as follows:
I. When the commissioner or his designee, in his or her discretion, deems it necessary to protect the revenues to be obtained under this chapter, he or she may, after notice and hearing, require any operator required to collect the tax imposed by RSA 78-A:6 to file with him or her a bond issued by a surety company authorized by the New Hampshire insurance department to do business in this state, in an amount fixed by the commissioner or his or her designee, to secure the payment of any tax, interest or penalties due, or which may become due. [The operator shall file a bond within 10 days after the department has issued and mailed such notice.] Surety bonds may be required in situations such as, but not limited to, failure to file returns, failure to make payments with returns at the time required by law, tender by an operator of checks returned for insufficient funds, failure to pay interest and penalties assessed, operators who are itinerant, transient, or temporary, and any other situation which, in the discretion of the commissioner or his or her designee, renders the collection of the tax in jeopardy. If, after a hearing, the commissioner or his or her designee issues an order requiring an operator to file a surety bond with the department, the operator shall file such bond within 10 days of the issuance of the order.
II. The surety on such bond shall be discharged from the liability accruing on the bond after the expiration of 60 days from the date on which the surety shall have lodged with the department a written request to be so discharged; but such request shall not discharge such surety from any liability already accrued or which shall accrue before the expiration of said 60-day period. The duration of surety bonds shall be for one year only, unless the requirement is cancelled or revised by the commissioner or his or her designee before the expiration of the one-year period.
III. In lieu of a bond, cash in an amount prescribed by the commissioner or his or her designee may be deposited with the state treasurer who may, at any time, upon instructions from the commissioner or his or her designee and without notice to the depositor, apply the cash deposited to any tax or interest or penalties due. Cash deposited in lieu of a surety bond shall not earn interest.
IV. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall result in the suspension of the operator’s license, as provided in RSA 78-A:5.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.