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IMPORTANT TAX NOTICE
On April 7, 2001, voters of the Zachary Community School
District approved a two percent sales and use tax applicable to taxable
transactions in the Zachary Community School District, including property
delivered into the School District. One percent of the tax is for a period
of five years beginning July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2008. Certain foods or
drugs, and other medically-related items are exempt from this one percent
tax. The other one percent is permanent and will tax these items. Proceeds
from this two percent tax will be used to operate the Zachary School System.
This is not a new sales tax. This tax replaces the one
percent East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and the one percent East Baton
Rouge Parish Education Facilities Improvement District taxes. The local
sales and use tax rate in the City of Zachary and within the Zachary
Community School District will remain at five percent.
On November 20, 1999, the voters in the Baker School
District approved a two percent sales and use tax applicable to taxable
transactions in the Baker School District, including property delivered in
the School District. Proceeds from this tax will be used to operate the City
of Baker School District. This tax is for a period of ten years beginning
July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2013. Sales of food for home consumption,
sales of prescription drugs, and medically-related items are subject to this
tax.
This is not a new tax. This tax replaces the one percent
East Baton Rouge Parish School Board and the one percent East Baton Rouge
Parish Education Facilities Improvement District taxes. The local sales and
use tax rate in the City of Baker and the Baker School District will remain
five and one-half percent.
As a result of these changes, our Sales and Use Tax Report
form will be redesigned. A copy of the redesigned form will be mailed to
each registered dealer, prior to implementation, to allow time for them to
make any changes that may be required. The new reporting form will be used
beginning with the July 2003 tax period.
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Are You Using
the Proper Column?
The City-Parish Revenue Division is the collecting
authority for those taxing agencies located in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Sales and use tax revenues are distributed monthly to each agency based on
the column or columns used when completing the Sales and Use Tax Report. As
a result, it is extremely important that the correct columns are used when
preparing this report.
It is imperative that taxpayers maintain suitable records in order to
determine the taxing jurisdiction(s) in which sales and/or use tax
obligations were incurred, such as where a product was delivered or a
taxable service was performed. If you do not deliver the merchandise sold,
then you should use the column that describes the location of your business.
If you deliver your merchandise or perform services at a site other than the
location of your business, then you should use the column that identifies
where your product was delivered or the taxable service was performed.
The four columns of our Sales and Use Tax Report represent the following
areas:
Column "1"
All physical locations within the city limits of the City of Baton Rouge.
Column "2"
All physical locations within the unincorporated areas of the Parish.
Column "3"
All physical locations within the City of Baker.
Column "4"
All physical locations within the City of Zachary. |
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Are You Using the Proper Column? (continued)
Following are some examples of various transactions and
the use of the proper columns:
Dealer’s business is physically located inside the City
of Baton Rouge and no merchandise is delivered. Taxpayer should use
Column 1-City of Baton Rouge.
Dealer’s repair business is physically located inside
the City of Baton Rouge and in addition to repair services performed at
the business location, repairs are also performed at ABC Chemical Company,
which is located in the unincorporated areas of the Parish.
Taxpayer should use Column 1 for repairs performed at dealer’s location
and Column 2 for repairs performed in the Parish.
Dealer’s business is physically located inside the City
of Baton Rouge and during the course of business delivers merchandise into
the unincorporated areas of the Parish, as well as into Baker and Zachary.
Taxpayer should use Column 1 for sales made at physical location and
Columns 2, 3, and 4 for sales of merchandise delivered into the Parish,
Baker and Zachary, respectively.
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Dealer’s business is not physically located in East
Baton Rouge Parish, but merchandise is delivered by dealer’s own truck to
customers located in the City of Baton Rouge and unincorporated areas of
the Parish. Taxpayer should use
Column 1 for deliveries into the City of Baton Rouge and Column 2 for
deliveries into the Parish.
The physical location of a business coupled with the delivery activity
are important factors in determining the proper columns in which taxable
transactions are reported. |
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Sales Tax Due Dates
Following are the sales tax due dates for the
second quarter of
2003:
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For the
Month of |
Tax Due
Date |
Delinquent
Date |
April
May
June
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May 1
June 1
July 1
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May 21
June 21
July 21
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Remember to mail your return
early!
Returns bearing a U.S. postmark on or
after the above delinquent dates will be assessed penalty, interest, and
loss of vendor's compensation.
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Taxpayer Topics
The Tax Facts Newsletter is issued quarterly by the Department of Finance/Revenue
Division. Our mission is to provide taxpayers with information concerning
developments and policies regarding the collection of local sales tax within East Baton
Rouge Parish. The Revenue Division invites any suggestions, questions or comments
that you would like addressed in future issues of Tax Facts. Please
address these items to:
City of Baton Rouge -
Department of Finance
P. O. Box 2590
Baton Rouge, LA 70821-2590
ATTENTION: Steve Thomas, Assistant Revenue Manager
or send e-mail to
sthomas@brgov.com
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