Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:305.74 – Exemption; sales tax holiday; November 20th and 21st, 2020; Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, and the COVID-19 pandemic
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:305.74
- Cost price: means the actual cost of the articles of tangible personal property without any deductions therefrom on account of the cost of materials used, labor, or service cost, except those service costs for installing the articles of tangible personal property if such cost is separately billed to the customer at the time of installation, transportation charges, or any other expenses whatsoever, or the reasonable market value of the tangible personal property at the time it becomes susceptible to the use tax, whichever is less. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Customer: means the person or entity that contracts with the seller of telecommunications services. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Dealer: includes every person who manufactures or produces tangible personal property for sale at retail, for use, or consumption, or distribution, or for storage to be used or consumed in a taxing jurisdiction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Purchaser: means and includes any person who acquires or receives any tangible personal property, or the privilege of using any tangible personal property, or receives any services pursuant to a transaction subject to tax under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Retailer: means and includes every person engaged in the business of making sales at retail or for distribution, or use or consumption, or storage to be used or consumed in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Sales price: means the total amount for which tangible personal property is sold, less the market value of any article traded in including any services, except services for financing, that are a part of the sale valued in money, whether paid in money or otherwise, and includes the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, except costs for financing which shall not exceed the legal interest rate and a service charge not to exceed six percent of the amount financed, and losses; provided that cash discounts allowed and taken on sales shall not be included, nor shall the sales price include the amount charged for labor or services rendered in installing, applying, remodeling, or repairing property sold. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- sales tax: shall mean the sales and use tax imposed by the state pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter and Chapter 2-A and 2-B of this Subtitle and the tax imposed by political subdivisions under the constitution or laws of this state authorizing the imposition of a sales and use tax. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Tangible personal property: means and includes personal property which may be seen, weighed, measured, felt or touched, or is in any other manner perceptible to the senses. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
- Use tax: includes the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the storage as herein defined. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301
A.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the sales and use tax levied by the state of Louisiana shall not apply to the first two thousand five hundred dollars of the sales price or cost price of any consumer purchases of tangible personal property that occur on Friday, November 20, 2020, and Saturday, November 21, 2020, in order to provide tax relief for citizens recovering from Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2) For purposes of this Section, “consumer purchases” shall mean purchases of items of tangible personal property other than vehicles subject to license and title. Consumer purchases shall not include the purchase of meals furnished for consumption on the premises where purchased, including to-go orders.
B. This Section shall apply if and only if during the eligible tax exemption period one of the following occurs:
(1) Title to or possession of an item of tangible personal property is transferred from a selling dealer to a purchaser.
(2) A customer selects an eligible item from the selling dealer’s inventory for layaway that is physically set aside in the selling dealer’s inventory for future delivery to that customer.
(3) The customer makes final payment and withdraws an item from layaway that might have been placed in layaway before the eligible tax exemption period.
(4) The customer orders and pays for an eligible item and the selling dealer accepts the order for immediate shipment, even if delivery is made after the eligible tax exemption period, provided that the customer has not requested delayed shipment.
C. Eligible items that customers purchase during the eligible tax exemption period with “rain checks” shall qualify for exemption, regardless of when the “rain checks” are issued. However, issuance of “rain checks” during the exemption period shall not qualify items for exemption if the otherwise eligible items are actually purchased after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period.
D.(1) When a customer purchases an eligible item during the eligible tax exemption period and exchanges the item without additional cash consideration after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period for an essentially identical item of different size, color, or other feature, no additional tax is due.
(2) When a customer, after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period returns an eligible item that was purchased during the eligible tax exemption period and receives credit on the purchase of a different item, the appropriate sales tax is due on the purchase of the new item.
E. For a sixty-day period after conclusion of the eligible tax exemption period, when a customer returns an item that would qualify for an exemption, no credit or refunds of sales tax shall be given unless the customer provides a receipt or invoice that shows that the state sales tax was paid or the retailer has sufficient documentation that shows that the tax was paid on the specific item. This sixty-day period is not intended to change a dealer’s policy concerning the time period during which returns will be accepted.
Acts 2020, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 16, §1, eff. Oct. 28, 2020.