GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 347*

Short Title:  Merchants' Sales Tax Discount.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Hill; Allred, Buchanan, Church, Fox, R. Hunter, Hurley, Locke, Pate, Sexton, and Weatherly.

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Referred to:  Finance.

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March 2, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ALLOW A PERCENTAGE DISCOUNT TO MERCHANTS FOR COLLECTING STATE SALES AND USE TAXES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 105-164.21 is reenacted and rewritten to read:
"§ 105-164.21.  Discount for collecting and paying taxes when due.
(a)	Amount. – Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a retailer who pays the retail sales or use tax imposed by this Article may deduct from the amount of the tax paid a discount of three percent (3%) of the first one thousand dollars ($1,000) of tax paid per month and seven-tenths of one percent (7/10 of 1%) of the remaining tax paid per month up to the following maximum discounts:
(1)	One hundred dollars ($100.00) per month for each place of business at a separate location.
(2)	For taxpayers who are required to report on a semimonthly basis, ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the combined semimonthly periods for each month for each retailer group.
(3)	For taxpayers who are not required to report on a semimonthly basis, ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per month for each retailer group.
The discount for each location may be deducted only from the tax paid with regard to that location.  For the purposes of this section, a retailer group includes all retail establishments that have one of the following relationships with one another: (i)	one corporation owns, directly or indirectly, at least eighty percent (80%) of the voting stock of the others; (ii) at least eighty percent (80%) of the voting stock of the corporations is owned, directly or indirectly, by the same interests; or (iii) in the case of establishments that are not incorporated, the establishments are under the same general management, supervision, or ownership.
(b)	Restrictions. – The Secretary may deny a retailer the benefit of this section for failure to pay the full tax when due as well as in cases of fraud, evasion, or failure to keep accurate and clear records as required by this Article.  In order to receive the discount provided in this section, a retailer must deduct the discount when it remits the tax to the Department of Revenue.  A utility may not deduct the discount provided in this section on sales of electricity, piped natural gas, or telecommunications services."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 105-474 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105-474. Administration and construction of Article.
This Article shall be harmonized with the North Carolina Sales and Use Tax Act to the extent practical.  The discount provided in G.S. 105-164.21 does not apply to this Article.  The remaining provisions of Articles 5 and 9 of this Chapter apply to this Article to the extent they are consistent with this Article.
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Sec. 3.  The discount allowed by G.S. 105-164.21, as reenacted by this act, does not apply to the local sales and use tax levied by Mecklenburg County under Chapter 1096 of the 1967 Session Laws.  Accordingly, the first sentence of Section 10 of Chapter 1096 of the 1967 Session Laws is amended by adding after the word "Act" the phrase ", other than G.S. 105-164.21,".
Sec. 4.  This act becomes effective April 1, 1996, and applies to returns filed on or after that date.