For the purpose of this chapter, a subcontractor is a person contracting with a prime contractor to perform all or part of a realty improvement the prime contractor has contracted to perform. For highway construction projects, a subcontractor includes any person contracting with a prime contractor to perform any of the following services as part of the project: traffic control, striping, flagging, operation of pilot cars, signing, landscaping, seeding, sodding, mulching, and erosion control. A prime contractor shall issue a certificate to a subcontractor showing the prime contractor’s valid contractors’ excise tax license number. The form shall be prescribed by the secretary of revenue. Any subcontractor who fails to retain a certificate and a record of project designations is considered a prime contractor and is subject to tax under this chapter. Any person not a prime contractor who provides a certificate is liable for tax equal to the amount of tax the person accepting the certificate would have been liable for if the certificate had not been issued. The tax is due at the time the person accepting the certificate would have been required to pay the tax. In addition to any tax or interest due, persons who are not prime contractors providing certificates are liable for a penalty of ten percent of the tax. The United States, the State of South Dakota, or any other state or public or municipal corporation in this state may not issue a certificate.

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Source: SL 1984, ch 92, § 6; SL 1990, ch 94; SL 2003, ch 272 (Ex. Ord. 03-1), § 82; SL 2011, ch 1 (Ex. Ord. 11-1), § 161, eff. Apr. 12, 2011.