(a) Consumer to Pay Tax; Hotel or Hotel operator Not to Represent that it Will Absorb Tax; Accounting By Hotel.
(1) The consumer shall pay to the hotel operator the amount of tax imposed by the City, which tax shall be added to and shall constitute a part of the consideration paid for the use and occupancy of the hotel room, and which tax shall be collectible as such by the hotel operator who shall account for, and remit to the City, all taxes paid by consumers. The hotel operator may commingle tax collected hereunder with the proceeds of the rental of hotel accommodations. The City's claim shall be enforceable against, and shall be superior to, all other claims against the moneys so commingled excepting only claims of the State for moneys held by the hotel pursuant to the provisions of West Virginia Code 11-15. All taxes collected pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be deemed to be held in trust by the hotel until the same shall have been remitted to the taxing authority as hereinafter provided.
(2) A hotel or hotel operator shall not represent to the public in any manner, directly or indirectly, that it will absorb all or any part of the tax or that the tax is not to be considered an element in the price to be collected from the consumer.
(b) Collection of Tax When Sale on Credit. A hotel operator doing business wholly or partially on a credit basis shall require the consumer to pay the full amount of tax due upon a credit sale at the time such sale is made or within thirty days thereafter.
(c) Receivership Bankruptcy; Priority of Tax. In the distribution, voluntary or compulsory, in receivership, bankruptcy or otherwise, of the property or estate of any person, all taxes due and unpaid authorized under this article shall be paid from first money available for distribution in priority to all claims and liens except taxes and debts due to the United States which under federal law are given priority over the debts and liens created by municipal ordinance or order of the County Commission for this tax and taxes and debts due to the State of West Virginia. Any person charged with the administration or distribution of any such property or estate who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be personally liable for any taxes accrued and unpaid which are chargeable against the person whose property or estate is in administration or distribution.
(d) Failure to Collect or Remit Tax; Liability of Hotel Operator. If any hotel operator fails to collect the tax authorized by this article and levied pursuant to this article or shall fail to properly remit such tax to the taxing authority, he shall be personally liable for such amount as he failed to collect or remit; provided, that such hotel operator shall not be held liable for failure to collect such tax if the hotel operator can by good and substantial evidence prove the refusal of the purchaser to pay this tax despite the diligent effort in good faith of the hotel operator to collect the tax.
(Passed 12-4-06.)
(Passed 12-4-06.)
(e) Total Amount Collected to be Remitted. No profit shall accrue to any person as
a result of the collection of the tax authorized under this article. Notwithstanding that the total amount of such taxes collected by a hotel operator may be in excess of the amount for which a consumer would be liable by the application of the levy of six percent (6%) for the occupancy of a hotel room or rooms, the total amount of all taxes collected by any hotel operator shall be remitted to the taxing authority as hereinafter provided.
(Passed 7-1-08.)
(f) Tax Return and Payment.
(1) The tax authorized by this article shall be due and payable in monthly installments on or before the fifteenth day of the calendar month next succeeding the month in which the tax accrued, provided, that the credit in which the tax authorized by this article is not collected by the hotel operator at the time of such sales, such tax shall not, for purposes of this article, be regarded as having accrued until the date on which it is either received by the hotel operator or upon the expiration of the thirty day payment period set forth in subsection (c) hereof, whichever shall first occur. The hotel operator shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, prepare and deliver to the Treasurer of the City of Charles Town a return for the preceding month, in the form prescribed by Council. Such form shall include all information necessary for the computation, collection and subsequent distribution of the tax as the City may require. A remittance for the amount of the tax due shall accompany each return. Each return shall be signed by the hotel operator or his duly authorized agent.
(2) For the first month that the tax is delinquent, there shall be assessed by the Treasurer a penalty in the amount of five percent (5%) of the tax due for the delinquent period. For each additional month that the tax remains delinquent, there shall be further assessed an additional one percent (1%) penalty per month until the tax is paid. No payment for a subsequent period shall be collected until all prior delinquent taxes have been paid in full with all penalties assessed thereto.
(g) Special Rule For Taxes Due in Amounts Less Than $10.00 Per Month. In the event that the tax due for any reporting period is less than ten dollars ($10.00), the reporting requirements as stated under subsection (f) hereof are hereby waived and no reporting shall be required until such time that the tax liability exceeds ten dollars ($10.00).
(h) Keeping and Preserving of Records. Each hotel operator shall keep complete and accurate records of taxable sales and of charges, together with a record of the tax collected thereon, and shall keep all invoices and other pertinent documents in such form as the taxing authority may require. Such records and other documents shall be preserved for a period of not less than three years, unless the taxing authority shall consent in writing to their destruction within
that period or shall require that they be kept for a longer period.
(i) Liability of Officers. If the taxpayer is an association or corporation, the officer thereof actually participating in the management or operation of the association or corporation shall be personally liable, jointly and severally, for any default on the part of the association or corporation; and payment of tax, fines, additions to tax or penalties which may be imposed by State law, City ordinances, order of the County Commission or other authority may be enforced against such officers as against the association or corporation which they represent.
(Passed 12-4-06.)