I. All taxes required to be paid by operators, and all increases, interest, and penalty on the taxes, become from the time due and payable to the commissioner of revenue administration a personal debt from the operator liable to pay them to the state to be recovered in an action of debt.
II. An action may be brought by the attorney general at the instance of the commissioner of revenue administration in the name of the state to recover the amount of taxes, penalties, and interest due from the operator, if the action is brought within 3 years after the taxes, penalties, and interest are due. The action is returnable in the county where the operator resides if he is a resident of the state; and if a nonresident, the action is returnable to the county of Merrimack. The limitation of 3 years in this section does not apply to a suit to collect taxes, penalties, interest, and costs when the operator filed a fraudulent return or failed to file a return when the return was due.