Sec. 4. Prepared Food and Beverage Tax.
   (a)   Authorization. The Dare County Board of Commissioners may, by resolution, after not less than 10-days' public notice and a public hearing held pursuant thereto, levy a prepared food and beverage tax of up to one percent (1%) of the sales price of prepared food and beverages sold within the county at retail for consumption on or off the premises by a retailer subject to sales tax under G.S. § 105-164.4(a)(1). The county may levy a tax under this section only if it also levies a tax under Section 3 of this act to become effective on the same date. This tax is in addition to State and local sales tax.
   (b)   Exemptions. The prepared food and beverage tax does not apply to the following sales of prepared food and beverages:
      (1)   Prepared food and beverages served to residents in boarding houses and sold together on a periodic basis with rental of a sleeping room or lodging.
      (2)   Retail sales exempt from taxation under G.S. § 105-164.13.
      (3)   Retail sales through or by means of vending machines.
      (4)   Prepared food and beverages served by a business subject to the occupancy tax levied pursuant to this act if the charge for the meals or prepared food or beverages is included in a single, nonitemized sales price together with the charge for rental of a room, lodging, or accommodation furnished by the business.
      (5)   Prepared food and beverages furnished without charge by an employer to an employee.
      (6)   Retail sales by grocers or by grocery sections of supermarkets or other diversified retail establishments other than sales of prepared food and beverages in the delicatessen or similar departments of the grocer or grocery section.
   (c)   Collection. Every retailer subject to the tax levied under this section shall, on and after the effective date of the levy of the tax, collect the tax. This tax shall be collected as part of the charge for furnishing prepared food and beverages. The tax shall be added and charged separately from the sales records, and shall be paid by the purchaser to the retailer as trustee for and on account of the county. The tax shall be added to the sales price and shall be passed on to the purchaser instead of being borne by the retailer. The county shall design, print, and furnish to all appropriate businesses and persons in the county the necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full collection of the tax.
   For the convenience of retailers the county shall determine the amount to be added to the sales price of sales subject to the prepared food and beverage tax. The amounts shall be set forth in a bracket system and distributed to each retailer responsible for collecting the prepared food and beverage tax. The use of the bracket system does not relieve the retailer from the duty of collecting and remitting an amount equal to the prepared food and beverage tax.
   (d)   Administration. The county shall administer a tax levied under this section. A tax levied under this section is due and payable to the county finance officer in monthly installments on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. Every person, firm, corporation, or association liable for the tax shall, on or before the fifteenth day of each month, prepare and render a return on a form prescribed by the county. The return shall state the total gross receipts derived in the preceding month from sales upon which the tax is levied. A return filed with the county finance officer under this section is not a public record as defined by G.S. § 132-1 and may not be disclosed except as required by law.
   (e)   Refunds. The county shall refund to a nonprofit or governmental entity the prepared food and beverage tax paid by the entity on eligible purchases of prepared food and beverages. A nonprofit or governmental entity's purchase of prepared food and beverages is eligible for a refund under this subsection if the entity is entitled to a refund under G.S. § 105-164.14 of the sales and use tax paid on the purchase. The time limitations, application requirements, penalties, and restrictions provided in G.S. § 105-164.14(b) and (d) shall apply to refunds to nonprofit entities; the time, limitations, application requirements, penalties, and restrictions provided in G.S. § 105-164.14(c) and (d) shall apply to refunds to governmental entities. When an entity applies for a refund of the prepared food and beverages tax paid by it on purchases, it shall attach to its application a copy of the application submitted to the Department of Revenue under G.S. § 105-164.14 for a refund of the sales and use tax on the same purchases. An applicant for a refund under this subsection shall provide any information required by the county to substantiate the claim.
   (f)   Use of proceeds. The county shall distribute the net proceeds of the tax as provided in Section 7 of this act.
   (g)   Effective date of levy. A tax levied under this section shall become effective on the date specified in the resolution levying the tax. That date must be the first day of a calendar month, however, and may not be before the later of (i) the first day of the second month after the date the resolution is adopted or (ii) January 1, 1992.
   (h)   Repeal. A tax levied under this section may be repealed by a resolution adopted by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. The county may repeal the tax, however, only if it also repeals the tax levied under Section 3 of this act, effective on the same date. Repeal of a tax levied under this section shall become effective on the first day of a month and may not become effective until the end of the fiscal year in which the repeal resolution was adopted. Repeal of a tax levied under this section does not affect a liability for a tax that was attached before the effective date of the repeal, nor does it affect a right to a refund of a tax that accrued before the effective date of the repeal.
(Sess. Laws 1991, ch. 177, § 4.)