North Carolina General Statutes 153A-155. Uniform provisions for room occupancy taxes
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 153A-155
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- County: means any one of the counties listed in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Local act: means an act of the General Assembly that applies to one or more specific counties, cities, or counties and cities by name. See North Carolina General Statutes 153A-1
- month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(a) Scope. – This section applies only to counties the General Assembly has authorized to levy room occupancy taxes.
(b) Levy. – A room occupancy tax may be levied only by resolution, after not less than 10 days’ public notice and after a public hearing held pursuant thereto. A room occupancy tax shall become effective on the date specified in the resolution levying the tax. That date must be the first day of a calendar month, however, and may not be earlier than the first day of the second month after the date the resolution is adopted.
(c) Collection. – A retailer who is required to remit to the Department of Revenue the State sales tax imposed by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4(a)(3) on accommodations is required to remit a room occupancy tax to the taxing county on and after the effective date of the levy of the room occupancy tax. The room occupancy tax applies to the same gross receipts as the State sales tax on accommodations and is calculated in the same manner as that tax. An accommodation facilitator, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.3, has the same responsibility and liability under the room occupancy tax as the accommodation facilitator has under the State sales tax on accommodations.
If a taxable accommodation is furnished as part of a package, the bundled transaction provisions in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.4D apply in determining the sales price of the taxable accommodation. If those provisions do not address the type of package offered, the person offering the package may determine an allocated price for each item in the package based on a reasonable allocation of revenue that is supported by the person’s business records kept in the ordinary course of business and calculate tax on the allocated price of the taxable accommodation.
A retailer must separately state the room occupancy tax. Room occupancy taxes paid to a retailer are held in trust for and on account of the taxing county.
The taxing county shall design 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. A retailer who collects a room occupancy tax may deduct from the amount remitted to the taxing county a discount equal to the discount the State allows the retailer for State sales and use tax.
(d) Administration. – The taxing county shall administer a room occupancy tax it levies. A room occupancy tax is due and payable to the county finance officer in monthly installments on or before the 20th 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 20th day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the taxing county. The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from rentals upon which the tax is levied. A room occupancy tax return filed with the county finance officer is not a public record and may not be disclosed except in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 153A-148.1 or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-208.1
(e) Penalties. – A person, firm, corporation, or association who fails or refuses to file a room occupancy tax return or pay a room occupancy tax as required by law is subject to the civil and criminal penalties set by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-236 for failure to pay or file a return for State sales and use taxes. The governing board of the taxing county has the same authority to waive the penalties for a room occupancy tax that the Secretary of Revenue has to waive the penalties for State sales and use taxes.
(f) Repeal or Reduction. – A room occupancy tax levied by a county may be repealed or reduced by a resolution adopted by the governing body of the county. Repeal or reduction of a room occupancy tax 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 resolution was adopted. Repeal or reduction of a room occupancy tax does not affect a liability for a tax that was attached before the effective date of the repeal or reduction, nor does it affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of the repeal or reduction.
(f1) Use. – The proceeds of a room occupancy tax shall not be used for development or construction of a hotel or another transient lodging facility.
(g) Applicability. – Subsection (c) of this section applies to all counties and county districts that levy an occupancy tax. To the extent subsection (c) conflicts with any provision of a local act, subsection (c) supersedes that provision. The remainder of this section applies only to Alleghany, Anson, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Cherokee, Chowan, Clay, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Graham, Granville, Halifax, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, Martin, McDowell, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Swain, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson Counties, to Harnett County District H, New Hanover County District U, Surry County District S, Watauga County District U, Wilkes County District K, Yadkin County District Y, and the Township of Averasboro in Harnett County and the Ocracoke Township Taxing District. (1997-102, s. 3; 1997-255, s. 2; 1997-342, s. 2; 1997-364, s. 3; 1997-410, s. 6; 1998-14, s. 2; 1999-155, s. 2; 1999-205, s. 2; 1999-286, s. 2; 2000-103, s. 5; 2001-162, s. 2; 2001-305, s. 2; 2001-321, s. 3; 2001-381, s. 10; 2001-434, s. 1; 2001-439, s. 18.2; 2001-468, s. 3; 2001-480, s. 14; 2001-484, s. 2; 2002-138, s. 5; 2004-106, s. 2; 2004-120, s. 3; 2004-170, ss. 36(a), 42(a); 2004-199, s. 60(a); 2005-16, s. 2; 2005-46, s. 1.2; 2005-53, s. 2; 2005-197, s. 6; 2005-233, s. 6.1; 2006-120, s. 8.1; 2006-127, s. 2; 2006-128, s. 6; 2006-129, s. 2; 2006-162, s. 20(a); 2006-167, s. 7(e); 2006-264, s. 81(a); 2007-19, s. 3; 2007-63, s. 3; 2007-223, s. 3; 2007-224, s. 5; 2007-265, s. 2; 2007-315, s. 2; 2007-318, s. 2; 2007-337, s. 3; 2007-340, s. 9; 2007-527, ss. 23, 43; 2008-33, s. 2; 2008-134, s. 12(b); 2008-187, s. 31; 2009-112, s. 4; 2009-157, s. 2; 2009-297, s. 3; 2010-31, ss. 31.6(c), (d); 2010-78, s. 10; 2010-123, s. 10.2; 2011-113, s. 4; 2011-115, s. 4; 2011-170, s. 5; 2012-100, s. 1; 2012-144, s. 4; 2012-194, s. 35; 2013-255, s. 3; 2015-128, s. 7; 2015-255, s. 6.1; 2017-202, s. 9.1(b); 2018-5, s. 38.10(e); 2019-246, s. 4(g); 2022-40, s. 1.2.)