§45-12-241. Levy of tax; ambulance and emergency medical services.

(a) This section shall only apply to Choctaw County.

(b) As used in this section, state sales and use tax means the tax imposed by the state sales and use tax statutes, including, but not limited to, Sections 40-23-1, 40-23-2, 40-23-3, 40-23-4, 40-23-60, 40-23-61, 40-23-62, and 40-23-63.

(c)(1) The county commission may levy, in addition to all other taxes, including, but not limited to, municipal gross receipts license taxes, a one cent ($.01) privilege license tax against gross sales or gross receipts. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the additional privilege license tax imposed pursuant to this section shall not apply to any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of selling machines at retail used in mining, quarrying, compounding, processing, and manufacturing of tangible personal property, and any parts of the machines or any automobile, vehicle, truck, truck trailer, semi-trailer, house trailer, or farm machinery.

(2) The gross receipts of any business and the gross proceeds of all sales which are presently exempt under the state sales and use tax statutes are exempt from the tax authorized by this section.

(d) The tax authorized to be levied by the county commission pursuant to this section shall be collected by the Department of Revenue or otherwise as provided by resolution of the county commission at the same time and in the same manner as state sales and use taxes are collected. On or prior to the date the tax is due, each person subject to the tax shall file with the department a report in the form prescribed by the department. The report shall set forth, with respect to all sales and business transactions that are required to be used as a measure of the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section, a correct statement of the gross proceeds of all the sales and gross receipts of all business transactions. The report shall also include items of information pertinent to the tax as the department may require. Any person subject to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section may defer reporting credit sales until after their collection, and in the event the person defers reporting them, the person shall thereafter include in each monthly report all credit collections made during the preceding month, and shall pay the tax due at the time of filing the report. All reports filed with the department under this section shall be available for inspection by the county commission, or its designee.

(e) Each person engaging or continuing in a business subject to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section, shall add to the sales price or admission fee and collect from the purchaser or the person paying the admission fee the amount due by the taxpayer because of the sale or admission. It shall be unlawful for any person subject to the tax to fail or refuse to add to the sales price or admission fee and to collect from the purchaser or person paying the admission fee the amount required to be added to the sale or admission price. It shall be unlawful for any person subject to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section to refund or offer to refund all or any part of the amount collected or to absorb or advertise directly or indirectly the absorption or refund of any portion of the tax.

(f) The tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section shall constitute a debt due the county. The tax, together with any interest and penalties, shall constitute and be secured by a lien upon the property of any person from whom the tax is due or who is required to collect the tax. The department shall collect the tax, enforce this section, and have and exercise all rights and remedies that the state or the department has for collection of the state sales and use tax. The department may employ special counsel as is necessary to enforce collection of the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section and to enforce this section. The department shall pay the special counsel any fees it deems necessary and proper from the proceeds of the tax collected by it for the county.

(g) All provisions of the state sales and use tax statutes with respect to the payment, assessment, and collection of the state sales and use tax, making of reports, keeping and preserving records, penalties for failure to pay the tax, promulgating rules and regulations with respect to the state sales and use tax, and the administration and enforcement of the state sales and use tax statutes which are not inconsistent with this section shall apply to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section. The Commissioner of the Department of Revenue and the department shall have and exercise the same powers, duties, and obligations with respect to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section that are imposed on the commissioner and department by the state sales and use tax statutes. All provisions of the state sales and use tax statutes that are made applicable by this section to the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section, and to the administration and enforcement of this section, are incorporated by reference and made a part of this section as if fully set forth herein.

(h) The department shall charge the county for collecting the tax authorized to be levied pursuant to this section in an amount or percentage of total collections as may be agreed upon by the commissioner and the county commission. The charge shall not exceed five percent of the total amount of the tax collected in the county. The charge may be deducted each month from the gross revenues from the tax before certification of the amount of the proceeds due the county for that month. The commissioner shall pay into the State Treasury all amounts collected under this section, as the tax is received by the department on or before the first day of each successive month. The commissioner shall certify to the state Comptroller the amount collected and paid into the State Treasury for the benefit of the county during the month immediately preceding the certification. The state Comptroller shall issue a warrant each month payable to the county treasurer in an amount equal to the certified amount which shall be paid into the county general fund to be used to fund the operation of ambulance and emergency medical services in the county to be under the control and supervision of the Board of Directors of the Choctaw County Emergency Medical Services, Incorporated.

(Act 94-550, p. 1004, §§1-8.)