§ 8521. Imposition and rate of tax

(a) There is hereby assessed, upon each person or corporation owning or operating a telephone line or business within the State, a tax equal to 2.37 percent of net book value as of the preceding December 31 of all personal property of the taxpayer located within the State. The tax shall be paid to the Commissioner in equal monthly installments on or before the 25th day of each month of each taxable year.

(b) For tax years beginning after July 1, 1983, “a person or corporation owning or operating a telephone line or business,” as used in this chapter, shall not include a person or corporation that is engaged in the resale of telephone transmission capacity but does not own or operate any telephone lines or transmission facilities within the State, but such person or corporation engaging in the resale of telephone transmission capacity shall be subject to income taxation under chapter 151 of this title.

(c) The tax imposed by this section shall be in addition to any other taxes imposed by law, including the income tax imposed under chapter 151 of this title.

(d) All the administrative provisions of chapter 151 of this title, including those relating to the collection and enforcement of the income tax by the Commissioner, shall apply to the tax imposed by this chapter.

(e) There is hereby assessed, upon each person or corporation owning or operating a telephone line or business that received in calendar year 1990 at least $20 million in annual gross operating revenues within the State, a tax on its entire gross operating revenues from the State for the periods from July 1, 1991 through June 30, 1992. The tax for each separate fiscal year shall be determined by subtracting from an amount equal to 51/4 percent of the taxpayer’s gross operating revenues from the State for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992, the total amount of tax paid by such persons or corporations under subsection (a) of this section during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992, the amount of tax paid by such persons or corporations under chapter 151 of this title during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992. The tax imposed by this subsection shall be paid to the Commissioner on or before June 30 of each year. The tax imposed by this subsection shall expire June 30, 1992.

(f) When personal property is transferred during the year from a person or corporation subject to a tax imposed by this subchapter to another person or corporation that operates or will operate a telephone line or business in the State:

(1) for months beginning after the date of transfer, the transferee shall include the net book value of the transferred property as of the date of transfer in the calculation of the tax due under subsection (a) of this section and the transferor shall exclude such value from its calculation of its tax under subsection (a); and

(2) for the month during which the transfer occurs, the transferor shall include the net book value of the transferred property as of the preceding December 31 multiplied by the number of days during the month it owned the property and divided by the total number of days in the month, and the transferee shall include the net book value of the property as of the date of transfer multiplied by the number of days during the month it owned the property divided by the number of days in the month. (Amended 1961, No. 118, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1962; 1969, No. 144, § 14; 1985, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 5, 1986; 1987, No. 210 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1991, No. 32, § 38, eff. May 18, 1991; 1995, No. 29, § 18, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; 1995, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 19, eff. May 15, 1996; 2015, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 38, eff. Jan. 1, 2017.)