GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1985 SESSION
CHAPTER 449
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE DARE COUNTY TO LEVY AN OCCUPANCY TAX.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. Occupancy Tax. (a) Authorization and Scope. The Dare County Board of Commissioners may by resolution, after not less than 10 days' public notice and after a public hearing held pursuant thereto, levy a room occupancy tax of three percent (3%) of the gross receipts derived from the rental of the following in Dare County:
(1) Any room, lodging, or similar accommodation subject to sales tax under G.S. 105-164.3(4); and
(2) A campsite.
This tax does not apply to accommodations furnished by nonprofit charitable, educational, or religious organizations when furnished in furtherance of their nonprofit purpose. This tax is in addition to any State or local sales tax.
(b) Collection. Every operator of a business subject to the tax levied under this act shall, on and after the effective date of the levy of the tax, collect the tax. This tax shall be collected as part of the charge for furnishing a taxable accommodation. The tax shall be stated and charged separately from the sales records, and shall be paid by the purchaser to the operator of the business as trustee for and on account of Dare County. The tax shall be added to the sales price and shall be passed on to the purchaser instead of being borne by the operator of the business. The Dare County Tax Collector shall design, print, and furnish to all appropriate businesses and persons in the county the necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full collection of the tax.
An operator of a business who collects the occupancy tax levied under this act may deduct from the amount remitted by him to the county a discount of three percent (3%) of the amount collected.
(c) Administration. The county shall administer a tax levied under this act. A tax levied under this act is due and payable to the county tax collector in monthly installments on or before the 15th day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. Every person, firm, corporation, or association liable for the tax shall, on or before the 15th day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the county. The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from rentals and sales upon which the tax is levied. A return filed with the Dare County Tax Collector under this act is not a public record as defined by G.S. 132-1 and may not be disclosed except as required by law.
(d) Penalties. A person, firm, corporation, or association who fails or refuses to file the return required by this act shall pay a penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) for each day's omission. In case of failure or refusal to file the return or pay the tax for a period of 30 days after the time required for filing the return or for paying the tax, there shall be an additional tax, as a penalty, of five percent (5%) of the tax due in addition to any other penalty, with an additional tax of five percent (5%) for each additional month or fraction thereof until the tax is paid.
Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade a tax imposed under this act or who willfully fails to pay the tax or make and file a return shall, in addition to all other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) and imprisonment not to exceed six months.
(e) Use and Distribution of Tax Revenue. Dare County shall distribute two-thirds of the net proceeds of the tax, on a monthly basis, to the Towns of Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Manteo, Nags Head, and Southern Shores in proportion to the amount of ad valorem taxes levied by each town for the preceding fiscal year. The county shall retain the remaining one-third of the net proceeds. Revenue distributed to a town or retained by the county under this subsection may be used only for tourist- related purposes, including construction and maintenance of public facilities and buildings, garbage, refuse, and solid waste collection and disposal, police protection, and emergency services.
As used in this subsection, "net proceeds" means gross proceeds less the cost to the county of administering and collecting the tax.
(f) Repeal. A tax levied under this act may be repealed by a resolution adopted by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Repeal of a tax levied under this act shall become effective on the first day of a month and may not become effective until the end of the fiscal year in which the repeal resolution was adopted. Repeal of a tax levied under this act does not affect a liability for a tax that attached before the effective date of the repeal, nor does it affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of the repeal.
Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 24th day of June, 1985.