§315. Sales returned to dealer; credit or refund of tax

A. Whenever tangible personal property sold is returned to the dealer by the purchaser or consumer or in the event the amount paid or charged for services is refunded or credited to the purchaser or consumer after the tax imposed by this Chapter has been collected, or charged to the account of the purchaser, 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 collector; and in case the tax has not been remitted by the dealer to the collector, the dealer may deduct the same in submitting his return. Upon receipt of a signed statement of the dealer as to the gross amount of such refunds during the period covered by the signed statement, which period shall not be longer than ninety days, the collector shall issue to the dealer an official credit memorandum equal to the net amount remitted by the dealer for the tax collected. This memorandum shall be accepted by the collector at full face value from the dealer to whom it is issued, in the remittance for subsequent taxes accrued under the provisions of this Chapter. In cases where a dealer has retired from business and has filed a final return, a refund of tax may be made if it can be established to the satisfaction of the collector that the tax paid was not due.

B.(1) Whenever the unpaid balance of an account due to the dealer for the purchase of tangible personal property or the sale 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 prescription on such refund or credit shall begin to run from the date of signature on the federal income tax return charging off such debt.

(3) 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.

(4) This refund applies both to sales and use taxes imposed by the state of Louisiana and to such taxes authorized and levied by any school board, municipality, or other local taxing authority. All local taxing authorities shall grant such credit or refund as provided by Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section. The taxing authority shall provide for the granting of such refund either by ordinance or by local rule or regulation. Such credit or refund shall be granted whenever the Louisiana Department of Revenue has found the dealer to be entitled to reimbursement in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph (B) (1) of this Section.

C. The provisions of Subsection B of this Section shall apply to debts that are incurred on or after January 1, 1976.

Amended by Acts 1976, No. 153, §1, eff. July 20, 1976; Acts 1983, No. 165, §1; Acts 1985, No. 516, §1, eff. July 1, 1985; Acts 1987, No. 770, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1987; Acts 1989, No. 379, §1; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §15.