(A) The business taxes shall not be so applied as to occasion an undue burden on interstate, intercity or intrastate commerce or bear an unfair relationship to the proportion of the taxed activity taking place within the city or be violative of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution of the United States and the State.
(B) If a certificant or applicant for a business tax certificate believes that the business tax imposed places an undue burden upon interstate, intercity or intrastate commerce or bears an unfair relationship to the proportion of the taxed activity taking place within the city or is violative of such constitutional clauses, such person may apply to the collector for an apportionment of the tax.
(C) Such application may be made before, at the time of, or within six months after payment of the business tax. The applicant or certificant shall, by sworn statement and supporting testimony, show his/her method of business, the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business, and such other information as the collector may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden or violation.
(D) The collector shall then conduct an investigation and fix as the business tax for the applicant or certificant, an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or if the business tax has already been paid, order a refund of the amount over and above the business tax so fixed. In fixing the business tax to be collected, the collector may base the business tax on a percentage of gross receipts or any other measure that will assure that the business tax assessed is uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature.
(E) Should the collector determine the gross receipts measure of business tax to be the proper basis, the collector may require the applicant or certificant to submit, either at the time of termination of the business of the city or at the end of each three-month period, a sworn statement of the gross receipts and may require the applicant or certificant to pay the amount of business tax therefor.
(F) The collector shall give the applicant or certificant notice of a determination made pursuant to section 11-7(D) by personal service or by depositing the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the applicant or certificant at his/her last known address. The applicant or certificant may within 15 days after the mailing or serving of such notice, appeal the collector's decision to the city manager in accordance with section 11-26.
(`64 Code, Sec. 16-7) (Ord. No. 2456, 2838)