(1) All taxes collected by any operator or any booking agent in accordance with this Chapter shall constitute a trust fund for the City and such trust shall be enforceable against such person and any person receiving any part of such fund without consideration, or knowing that the operator or booking agent is committing a breach of trust; provided, however, that any person receiving payment of a lawful obligation of the operator or booking agent from such fund shall be presumed to have received the same in good faith and without any knowledge of the breach of trust.
(2) The operator shall collect the tax imposed by this Chapter from the patron of the room and pay it over to the City as provided hereinafter. The operator, if he fails to collect the tax or pay it to the City when due, shall be liable to the City for the payment of the tax to the Department as provided in this Section, unless the operator has confirmation that the booking agent has collected and remitted tax on the transaction.
(3) Every report and return shall be made upon a form furnished by the Department.
(4) Every operator or booking agent collecting for an operator shall transmit to the Department, on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of each month, a return for the month preceding the month in which the return is made, which return shall report the amount of consideration received for the transactions during the month for which the return is made, the amount of tax due from the operator or booking agent for that month, and such other information as the Department may require.
(5) Every operator or booking agent collecting for an operator, at the time of filing every return required by this Section shall compute and pay to the Department the taxes shown as due on the return for the period for which the return is made.
(6) Every operator shall maintain records, which shall be made available to the Department upon its request, which shall include, but not be limited to, the number of transactions in each hotel reflected on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis, the rate(s) charged for each occupancy, the consideration received from all transactions during the month for which each return is made, as well as such other information as the Department may require. Every booking agent shall maintain the same records with respect to any operator for which it collects.
(7) The tax due pursuant to this Chapter shall be collected and paid over to the City as though it were a continuation of the tax imposed by prior Chapter 19-2400, enacted pursuant to the act of December 7, 1982 (P.L. 808, No. 220), known as the First Class City Hotel Room Rental Tax Act, which act, in accordance with the provisions of Section 24 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority Act, June 27, 1986 (P.L. 124, No. 70), shall be repealed on the effective date of this Chapter.
(8) If an operator enters the business of the renting of hotel rooms or a booking agent begins collecting on behalf of an operator subsequent to the effective date of this Chapter, the first return shall be filed on the fifteenth (15th) day of the first month subsequent thereto. The first return and tax payment due shall be for all transactions occurring during the preceding month based upon the actual taxable transactions during the preceding month.
(9) Upon the Department's request, any booking agent shall provide a list of all operators in Philadelphia that have listed hotels with it, including the hotel's address, the operator's contact information and any other requested information.
(10) Any booking agent that lists one or more hotels in Philadelphia and that does not collect the tax on behalf of all the operators of such hotels shall provide the Department quarterly within 30 days of the end of the calendar quarter a list of all Philadelphia hotels that it listed the prior calendar year but for which it did not collect and remit, along with their addresses, their operators' contact information and any other requested information.
(11) Any booking agent that lists one or more Philadelphia hotels (i) shall, at the time any operator first lists a Philadelphia hotel with it, notify the operator of the operator's tax and license obligations to the City; and (ii) shall annually provide all operators of one or more Philadelphia hotels with a reminder of their tax and license obligations to the City. In both cases, the booking agent shall use language provided or approved by the Department.
(12) Any booking agent or operator who fails to file any return or report required under this Section 19-2405 shall be subject to a maximum fine of two thousand dollars ($2,000) per occurrence. A separate offense shall be deemed to occur on the first day of each month the failure to file continues.
Notes
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