Montana § 7-6-1505 - Resort Tax Administration

§ 7-6-1505. Resort Tax Administration

Resort tax administration. (1) In this section, "governing body" means: (a) the governing body of a resort community; (b) if the resort tax has been approved by the qualified electors of a resort area, the board of county commissioners; or (c) if the qualified electors of the resort area establish a resort area district, the district board of directors. (2) Not less than 30 days prior to the date that the resort tax becomes effective, the governing body shall enact an administrative ordinance governing the collection and reporting of the resort taxes. This administrative ordinance may be amended at any time as may be necessary to effectively administer the resort tax. (3) The administrative ordinance must specify: (a) the times that taxes collected by businesses are to be remitted to the governing body; (b) the office, officer, or employee of the governing body responsible for receiving and accounting for the resort tax receipts; (c) the office, officer, or employee of the governing body responsible for enforcing the collection of resort taxes and the methods and procedures to be used in enforcing the collection of resort taxes due; and (d) the penalties for failure to report taxes due, failure to remit taxes due, and violations of the administrative ordinance. The penalties may include: (i) criminal penalties not to exceed a fine of $1,000 or 6 months' imprisonment, or both; (ii) civil penalties if the governing body prevails in a suit for the collection of resort taxes, not to exceed 50% of the resort taxes found due plus the costs and attorney fees incurred by the governing body in the action; (iii) revocation of a county or municipal business license held by the offender; and (iv) any other penalties that may be applicable for violation of an ordinance. (4) The administrative ordinance may include: (a) further clarification and specificity in the categories of goods and services that are subject to the resort tax consistent with 7-6-1503 ; (b) authorization for business administration and prepayment discounts. The discount authorization may allow each vendor and commercial establishment to: (i) withhold up to 5% of the resort taxes collected to defray their costs for the administration of the tax collection; or (ii) receive a refund of up to 5% of the resort tax payment received from them by the governing body 10 days prior to the collection due date established by the administrative ordinance. (c) other administrative details necessary for the efficient and effective administration of the tax.