14. (a) Every person required to collect any tax imposed by this act shall be personally liable for the tax imposed, collected or required to be collected under this act. Any such person shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from that person’s customer or in respect to non-payment of the tax by the customer as if the tax were a part of the purchase price of the property or service, amusement charge or rent, as the case may be, and payable at the same time; provided, however, that the director shall be joined as a party in any action or proceeding brought to collect the tax.

(b) Where any customer has failed to pay a tax imposed by this act to the person required to collect the same, then in addition to all other rights, obligations and remedies provided, such tax shall be payable by the customer directly to the director and it shall be the duty of the customer to file a return with the director and to pay the tax to the director within 20 days of the date the tax was required to be paid.

(c) The director may, whenever the director deems it necessary for the proper enforcement of this act, provide by regulation that customers shall file returns and pay directly to the director any tax herein imposed, at such times as returns are required to be filed and payment over made by persons required to collect the tax.

(d) No person required to collect any tax imposed by this act shall advertise or hold out to any person or to the public in general, in any manner, directly or indirectly, that the tax is not considered as an element in the price, amusement charge or rent payable by the customer, or except as provided by subsection (f) of this section that the person required to collect the tax will pay the tax, that the tax will not be separately charged and stated to the customer or that the tax will be refunded to the customer. Upon written application duly made and proof duly presented to the satisfaction of the director showing that in the particular business of the person required to collect the tax it would be impractical for the seller to separately charge the tax to the customer, the director may waive the application of the requirement herein as to such seller.

(e) All sellers of energy or utility service shall include the tax imposed by the “Sales and Use Tax Act” within the purchase price of the tangible personal property or service.

(f) A seller other than a seller subject to subsection (e) of this section making retail sales of tangible personal property or sales of services may advertise that the seller will pay the tax for the customer subject to the conditions of this subsection.

(1) The advertising shall indicate that the seller is, in fact, paying the tax for the customer and shall not indicate or imply that the sale or charge is exempt from taxation.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 12 of P.L.1966, c.30 (C. 54:32B-12) to the contrary, any sales slip, invoice, receipt or other statement or memorandum of the price or service charge paid or payable given to the customer shall state that the tax will be paid by the seller; provided however that such record shall be otherwise subject to the provisions of section 12 of P.L.1966, c.30 (C. 54:32B-12).

(3) The seller shall pay the amount of tax due on the retail sale or service receipt, as determined pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1966, c.30 (C. 54:32B-4), as trustee for and on account of the State, and shall have the same liability for that amount of tax pursuant to the “Sales and Use Tax Act,” P.L.1966, c.30 (C. 54:32B-1 et seq.), as for an amount collected from a customer.

(g) No person required to collect any tax imposed by this act shall be held liable for having charged and collected the incorrect amount of sales and use tax by reason of reliance on erroneous data provided by the director with respect to tax rates, boundaries or taxing jurisdiction assignments or contained in the taxability matrix.

(h) In connection with a purchaser’s request from a seller of over-collected sales or use taxes, a seller shall be presumed to have a reasonable business practice, if in the collection of such sales or use taxes, the seller: (1) uses either a provider or a system, including a proprietary system, that is certified by the State; and (2) has remitted to the State all taxes collected less any deductions, credits, or collection allowances.

(i) No purchaser shall be held liable for any tax, interest or penalty for failure to pay the correct amount of tax by reason of:

(1) the reliance of the purchaser’s seller or certified service provider on erroneous data provided by the director with respect to tax rates, boundaries or taxing jurisdiction assignments or contained in the taxability matrix;

(2) the reliance of the purchaser holding a direct pay permit on erroneous data provided by the director with respect to tax rates, boundaries or taxing jurisdiction assignments or contained in the taxability matrix;

(3) the reliance of the purchaser on erroneous data provided by the director with respect to the taxability matrix; or

(4) the reliance of a purchaser using databases of taxing jurisdiction assignments on erroneous data provided by the director with respect to tax rates, boundaries or taxing jurisdiction assignments, provided however that, to the extent that the director provides or certifies an address-based database for assigning tax rates and jurisdictions and upon appropriate notice, no relief from liability shall be allowed for errors resulting from reliance on a zip code database for assigning tax rates and jurisdictions.

Provided however, that as to the relief from liability for tax, the relief from liability for tax by reason of reliance on the taxability matrix shall be limited to the director’s erroneous classification in the taxability matrix of terms “taxable” or “exempt,” “included in sales price” or “excluded from sales price” or “included in the definition” or “excluded from the definition.”

(j) If the director provides less than 30 days between the date a rate change is enacted and the date that change takes effect, the director shall relieve the seller of liability for failing to collect tax at the new rate if: (1) the seller collected tax at the immediately preceding effective rate; and (2) the seller’s failure to collect tax at the newly effective rate does not extend more than 30 days after the date of enactment of the new rate.

(k) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (j) of this section, if the director establishes that a seller fraudulently failed to collect tax due at the new rate or solicits purchasers based on the immediately preceding effective tax rate, this relief from liability shall not apply.

L.1966, c.30, s.14; amended 1966, c.53, s.7; 1997, c.162, s.30; 2003, c.42; 2005, c.126, s.21; 2008, c.123, s.13; 2011, c.49, s.12.