Rhode Island § 44-19-35 - Sales and Use Taxes — Enforcement and Collection

§ 44-19-35. Tax collection as property held in trust for the state.

All taxes collected by any retailer from purchasers in accordance with the provisions of chapter 18 of this title, and all taxes collected by any retailer from purchasers under color of those provisions, constitutes a trust fund for the state until paid to the tax administrator. That trust is enforceable against:

(1) The retailer;

(2) Any officer, agent, servant, or employee of any corporate retailer responsible for either the collection or payment, or both, of the tax;

(3) Any person receiving any part of the fund without consideration, or knowing that the retailer or any officer, agent, servant, or employee of any corporate retailer is committing a breach of trust; and

(4)(i) Their estates, heirs, and representatives; provided, that a purchaser to whom a refund has been properly made, or any person who receives payment of a lawful obligation of the retailer from that fund, is presumed to have received that amount in good faith and without any knowledge of the breach of trust.

(ii) The word “purchaser” includes a person who has paid rental charges on living quarters in any hotel, rooming house, or tourist camp.