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The County Recorder shall administer this ordinance. On or before the fifteenth day of the month the Recorder shall report to the County Auditor the amounts of taxes collected during the preceding month pursuant to this ordinance.
(Ord. 315-67, App. 12/12/67; amended by Ord. 352-84, App. 8/8/84; Ord. 377-84, App. 8/31/84)
(a) The County Recorder shall collect the tax hereby imposed and deposit the same to the General Fund. The County Recorder shall not record any deed, instrument or writing subject to the tax imposed by this Article 12-C unless the tax is paid.
(b) A declaration of the amount of the tax due, signed by the party determining the tax or his or her agent, shall appear on the face of every document subject to tax hereunder which is submitted for recordation. The declaration shall include a statement that the consideration or value on which the tax due was computed was not exclusive of the value of liens or encumbrances remaining on the interest or property conveyed at the time of sale.
(c) With every document subject to tax hereunder which is submitted for recordation, there shall also be submitted a separate affidavit stating all relevant information that is necessary for the determination of the proper transfer tax. A form for such affidavit shall be prepared by the County Recorder. The affidavit form shall include the following notice: “NOTICE: Any material misrepresentation of fact in this affidavit is a misdemeanor under Section 1116 of the Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance. Any person who makes such a misrepresentation is subject to prosecution for such offense.”
(d) If the deed, instrument or writing by which any lands, tenements, or other realty sold within the City and County of San Francisco is granted, assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed is not recorded with the County Recorder’s Office, the person who makes, signs, or issues such document or for whose benefit such document was made, signed, or issued, shall submit to the County Recorder an affidavit stating all relevant information that is necessary for the determination of the proper transfer tax, on the form described in Section 1111(c). Such affidavit must be filed within 30 days from the date the document effecting the transfer is delivered. Such affidavit must be filed regardless of whether any transfer tax is due or paid. Filing an affidavit that the County Recorder determines to be incomplete in any material aspect may be deemed to be a failure to file this affidavit for purposes of the statute of limitations in Section 1115.
(e) In accepting a document for recordation, the County Recorder may rely upon the declaration of the amount of tax due and upon the affidavit of relevant information accompanying the document if the County Recorder has no reason to believe that the full amount of the tax due has not been paid.
(f) Every document subject to tax hereunder which is submitted for recordation shall show on the face of the document, or in a separate document, the location of the lands, tenements, or other realty described in the document.
(a) Every person liable for the tax imposed by this Article 12-C shall keep and preserve records as may be necessary to determine the amount of tax for which the person may be liable, or whether the person is exempt from the tax. Upon request of the County Recorder, a person liable for the tax imposed by this Article 12-C shall produce such records to the County Recorder. Additionally, the County Recorder may order any person or persons, whether liable for the tax imposed by this Article 12-C or not, to furnish affidavits and produce all books, papers, documents, or any other records that the County Recorder believes may have relevance to enforcing compliance with this Article 12-C.
(b) The County Recorder may order the attendance before the County Recorder of any per- son or persons, whether liable for the tax imposed by this Article 12-C or not, whom the County Recorder believes may have information relevant to enforcing compliance with this Article 12-C.
(c) If the taxpayer does not maintain records that are adequate to determine liability under this Article 12-C, or following a request by the County Recorder fails to produce such records in a timely fashion, the County Recorder may determine the person’s liability based upon any information in the County Recorder’s possession, or that may come into the County Recorder’s possession. Such determination shall be prima facie evidence of the person’s liability in any subsequent administrative or judicial proceeding.
(d) The County Recorder may issue and serve subpoenas to carry out these provisions, and may adopt and implement necessary and appropriate audit procedures.
(Added by Ord. 176-17, File No. 170703, App. 7/27/2017, Eff. 8/26/2017)
(Former Sec. 1111.1 added by Ord. 377-84, App. 8/31/84; repealed by Ord. 176-17, File No. 170703, App. 7/27/2017, Eff. 8/26/2017)
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this Section 1113 or as provided in Section 1113.1, the Controller shall refund or cause to be refunded the amount of any tax, interest, or penalty imposed under this Article 12-C that has been overpaid or paid more than once, or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City, provided the person that paid such amount files a claim in writing with the Controller within the later of one year of payment of such amount or the date the tax was due. The claim must state: (1) the specific amount claimed to have been overpaid or paid more than once, or erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City; (2) the date of transfer; and (3) the grounds upon which the claim is founded, with specificity sufficient to enable the responsible City officials to understand and evaluate the claim.
(b) Claims for refund shall be made according to California Government Code, Title 1, Division 3.6, Part 3. The Controller shall furnish a form to be used for these claims. The Controller shall enter the claim in the register, and shall forthwith forward it to the City Attorney. The City Attorney is designated to take such actions on claims as authorized by California Government Code, Title 1, Division 3.6, Part 3, Chapter 2, except that the City Attorney's authority with regard to rejecting or allowing claims shall be as provided in this Section 1113. The City Attorney may reject the claim, and shall notify the claimant of such rejection. Except as provided in subsection (c), allowance or compromise and settlement of claims under this Section 1113 in excess of $25,000 shall require the written approval of the City Attorney and approval of the Board of Supervisors by resolution. The City Attorney may allow or compromise and settle such claims if the amount is $25,000 or less. No claim may be paid until the Controller certifies that monies are available from the proper funds or appropriations to pay the claim as allowed or as compromised and settled. If the City approves the claim, the City may refund the excess amount collected or paid, or may credit such amount toward any amount due and payable to the City from the person from whom it was collected or by whom it was paid, and the balance may be refunded to such person, or the person's administrator or executor. For purposes of this Section 1113, a claim shall be deemed to accrue on the later of the date the tax was due or the date the tax was paid.
(c) Notwithstanding the $25,000 limitation on the City Attorney’s authority in subsection (b) of this Section 1113, the City Attorney, with the approval of the County Recorder but without the approval of the Board of Supervisors, may allow or compromise and settle claims under this Section 1113, and suits for refund following the denial of claims under this Section 1113, for any amount up to the amount of transfer tax, penalties, and interest paid that exceeds the amount of transfer tax, penalties, and interest that would have been due on a transaction if the amount of transfer tax, penalties, and interest due had been calculated using the value of the real property on the date of the transaction as finally determined by the Assessment Appeals Board of the City and County of San Francisco plus statutory interest under Section 1113.2.
(d) The City Attorney, in the City Attorney’s discretion and upon good cause shown, prior to the expiration of the one-year limitations period, may waive the requirement set forth in subsection (a) of this Section 1113 that a taxpayer file a written claim for a refund in any case in which the County Recorder and City Attorney determine on the basis of the evidence that:
(1) an amount of tax, interest, or penalty has been overpaid or paid more than once, or has been erroneously or illegally collected or received by the City; and
(2) all other conditions precedent to the payment of a refund to the taxpayer have been satisfied.
The County Recorder may authorize the Controller to refund transfer tax payments, without the need for a refund claim, if the County Recorder determines:
(a) the tax was paid more than once;
(b) the amount paid exceeds the amount due as a result of an arithmetic or clerical error; or
(c) the tax was paid on a type of transaction that is exempt from the tax.
The County Recorder may authorize such a refund no later than one year after payment of the tax. The statute of limitations for filing a claim for refund under Section 1113(a) shall not be tolled and shall continue to run while a person’s request for refund under this Section 1113.1 is pending.
(Added by Ord. 20-09, File No. 081450, App. 2/5/2009; amended by Ord. 176-17, File No. 170703, App. 7/27/2017, Eff. 8/26/2017)
(a) Any amounts refunded prior to entry of a final judgment in a judicial proceeding shall bear interest at the rate for prejudgment interest on refunds of local taxes or fees provided by section 3287(c) of the California Civil Code, as amended from time to time, and shall be computed from the date of payment to the date of refund.
(b) If the Controller offsets overpayments for a particular transfer against another liability or liabilities owed to the City, or against penalties or interest on the other liability or liabilities owed to the City, the taxpayer will be credited with interest on the amount so applied at the rate of interest set forth above, computed from the date of payment.
(c) If a taxpayer elects to apply all or part of a refund, inclusive of any interest accrued up to the date of the taxpayer's election, against a future San Francisco tax liability, the taxpayer will not be credited with interest on the amount so applied from the date of the taxpayer's election.
(a) Persons claiming they are aggrieved under the Business and Tax Regulations Code must prior to seeking judicial relief:
(1) pay the amount of the disputed tax, penalty, and interest; and
(2) present a claim for refund to the Controller and allow action to be taken on such claim, pursuant to Section 1113.
(b) The person who paid the tax, his or her guardian or conservator, the executor of his or her will, or the administrator of his or her estate may bring an action in Superior Court against the City and County of San Francisco to recover taxes, interest, or penalties that the City has refused to refund on a claim for refund pursuant to Section 1113. No other person may bring such an action; but if another person should do so, judgment shall not be rendered for the plaintiff. Any suit for refund of taxes, interest, or penalties shall be commenced within the time provided by California Government Code section 945.6, as amended from time to time. Persons claiming they are aggrieved under the Business and Tax Regulations Code may not file any type of judicial action other than a refund action. Notwithstanding any other section of this Code, no claim or defense that, for any reason, a tax is not due or cannot be applied under this Code may be raised in any judicial proceeding except in an action for refund of the disputed tax.
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