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{CABARRIJS COUN~ { NOB~H CAflOLINA MEMORANDUM To: Board of Commissioners From: Date: Blair Bennett ~ September 29, 1997 Subject: Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax The Cabarrus County Finance Department has been in charge of administering and collecting the 3% tax since implementation of the Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax. This tax is payable to the finance department by the fifteenth of the month following the month in which the tax accrues. In our dealings with the various hotels/motels we have occasionally had these various establishments report late by one day to maybe a week from the required deadline. This does not happen regularly and there is certainly no specific establishments that abuse the deadline. However on occasion because of various reasons such as, change of management, sale of establishment, change of auditors, and occasionally just forgetting to mail on a timely basis, the establishment may be late with the payment. Below is the current penalty for late payment: Penalties. A person, firm, corporation, or association who fails or refuses to file the return required by this act shall pay a penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each day's omission. In case of failure or refusal to file the return or pay the tax for a period of 30 days after the time required for filing the return or for paying the tax, there shall be an additional tax, as a penalty, of five percent (5%) of the tax due for each additional month or fraction thereof until the tax is paid. Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade a tax imposed under this act or who willfully fails to pay the tax or make and file a return shall, in addition to all other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both. The board of commissioners may, for good cause shown, compromise or forgive the penalties imposed by this subsection. I believe this penalty is somewhat severe, especially as applied to some of the smaller businesses. I am not requesting that you change the law, but that I be designated authority, for good cause shown, to compromise or forgive the penalties imposed by this tax. If you wish to limit my authority by a maximum amount, I would suggest maybe $400. This would certainly give me some latitude to deal with these particular matters in a fair and equitable manner. Thank you for considering this matter. Finance Department P.O. [3ox 707 · Concord, NC 28026-0707 · (704) 788-8104