Tennessee § 67-4-603 - Collection.

§ 67-4-603. Collection.

The clerks of the various courts shall collect the various privilege taxes imposed by § 67-4-602 in the following manner: Upon the commencement of an original civil action, from the plaintiff, except when such action is brought pursuant to a pauper's oath; Upon a finding of guilt, plea of guilty, or submission to fine in a criminal action from the defendant; Upon the filing in any civil action of an appeal, or of an appeal in the nature of a writ of error or certiorari, from one court to another, from the appellant, except when such appeal is brought pursuant to a pauper's oath; Upon judgment against the defendant in any original civil action brought by a city or county of the state of Tennessee or by the state of Tennessee from the defendant; or Upon judgment or final decree against the appellee in any action on an appeal or on an appeal in the nature of a writ of error or certiorari, where the appellant is a city or county of the state of Tennessee or the state of Tennessee from the appellee. When any defendant in a criminal action is liable to pay the applicable privilege tax, the clerk of the court shall certify to the commissioner of correction, the county sheriff or the board of workhouse commissioners, as applicable, whether payment of the tax has been made. Such certification shall be in such form as the commissioner, the county sheriff or the board of workhouse commissioners, as applicable, shall direct. The commissioner, the county sheriff, or the board of workhouse commissioners, as applicable, shall then cause any amount owing to be collected from the inmate during the inmate's period of confinement by the department or at the county jail or county workhouse, as applicable. The commissioner, the county sheriff and the board shall retain all records relating to amounts collected for the payment of the privilege tax on litigation for a period of four (4) years. Such records may be examined by the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner's delegate, pursuant to chapter 1, part 14 of this title. The commissioner of correction, the county sheriff, or the board of workhouse commissioners shall collect and pay over to the clerk of the court in which the defendant was convicted any amount collected, and the clerk of the court shall apply such amount to reducing the liability of the defendant for the privilege tax on litigation, and shall report and pay over this amount to the department of revenue in the same manner as the clerk of the court is required to collect and pay over taxes to the department of revenue as provided for in parts 2 and 3 of this chapter. The tax imposed by § 67-4-602 shall be paid out of the first moneys collected in each case, and may be collected in the same manner as costs are collected, but the tax imposed by § 67-4-602 shall not be deemed to be costs. Any moneys collected by the clerk of the court pursuant to subsection (a) for the payment of the privilege tax on litigation imposed pursuant to § 67-4-602, or pursuant to § 40-24-107 shall be equally divided between the two (2) privilege taxes and paid and reported to the department of revenue in such manner. At such time as the amount owed for either tax is fully paid, any additional money collected shall be paid and reported for the purpose of extinguishing the remaining tax on litigation. For purposes of subdivision (a)(3), the time of filing in any civil action of an appeal shall be deemed to be the time of the docketing of the appeal in the appellate court. The litigation taxes to be collected under this section in any appeal to the court of appeals or the supreme court shall be collected by the clerk of the appellate courts upon the docketing of the appeal in the appellate court. The clerks of the various courts shall collect and remit the various privilege taxes on litigation, as well as the various fines, fees and court costs that are remitted to the state, and shall report them on forms prescribed by the commissioner. Acts 1981, ch. 488, § 1; 1982, ch. 725, § 1; 1983, ch. 426, § 1; 1983, ch. 449, §§ 1, 2, 4; T.C.A., § 67-4102, Item J; Acts 1994, ch. 967, § 2; 2002, ch. 559, §§ 1, 2; 2005, ch. 429, § 25. Cross-References. General sessions courts, litigation tax for counties, § 16-15-5006 . Law Reviews. Selected Tennessee Legislation of 1983 (N. L. Resener, J. A. Whitson, K. J. Miller), 50 Tenn. L. Rev. 785 (1983). Attorney General Opinions. Payment allocation where defendant indigent only as to costs or fines, OAG 98-099 (5/27/98). Levy of litigation tax for multiple criminal offenses, OAG 99-056 (3/9/99). In most appeals of civil cases, the clerk of the appellate court is required to collect the litigation tax from the appellant upon the filing of the appeal; then, if the appellant succeeds on appeal and is awarded costs, the clerk should collect the litigation tax from the appellee when the clerk collects costs and should reimburse the appellant for the tax, OAG 00-188 (12/14/00). In civil and criminal cases where the appellant is a city, a county, or the state, the clerk of the appellate court is not authorized to collect a litigation tax from the appellant and is authorized to collect a litigation tax only if the city, county, or state prevails on appeal; in that event, the clerk should collect the litigation tax from the appellee upon the appellate court's entry of a judgment against the appellee, OAG 00-188 (12/14/00). The clerk of the appellate court is not authorized to collect a litigation tax in appeals of criminal cases where the appellant is the defendant, OAG 00-188 (12/14/00). The collection of the litigation tax is not a condition precedent to the appellate court's consideration of an appeal, OAG 00-188 (12/14/00). Although the juvenile court clerk is not authorized to collect the litigation tax in original proceedings in juvenile court where the court exercises the jurisdiction granted by title 37, chapter 1, the clerk of the appellate court is required to collect the litigation tax in civil appeals from juvenile court, OAG 00-188 (12/14/00). A circuit court clerk or other appropriate official may accept payment for litigation taxes, fines, court costs, and other fees in one criminal case if the litigation taxes in other cases against the same criminal defendant have not been paid. OAG 01-058 (4/11/01). The event that triggers responsibility for collecting the litigation tax, in most cases, is the filing of the appeal and, therefore, the litigation tax should be collected by the clerk of the court in which the notice of appeal, application for appeal, or petition for review is filed, OAG 01-131 (8/20/01). Litigation taxes paid by a plaintiff at the filing of a lawsuit may not be included as costs and may not be recovered at the conclusion of a lawsuit against an unsuccessful defendant absent a court order to the contrary, OAG 02-072 (6/3/02).