Could Tullos collect occupational license taxes after years of collecting from only one business?

Plain-English summary

Tullos had collected occupational license taxes from one business for years, then began asking other businesses to pay. The 2013 opinion concluded that past uneven collection did not itself prevent the town from collecting valid taxes that had not prescribed. The AG made that answer conditional on the ordinance having been properly adopted and not repealed.

The opinion identified a three-year prescription period for the taxes at the time and said the mayor could not change the statutory method for calculating them. It did not establish from the request alone that every old bill remained collectible.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

Businesses in Tullos

The AG said the town could seek taxes from businesses beyond the one it had previously charged, provided each tax was properly imposed and still within the collection period.

Town officials

The opinion conditioned collection on an ordinance approved by the required council vote after the specified public hearings and not later repealed. It said tax calculations followed statutory business classifications, not a mayoral choice.

Common questions

Did years of not collecting from most businesses cancel the license tax?

The AG said no. The town retained authority to collect under a valid ordinance for taxes that had not prescribed.

Could Tullos collect every unpaid charge from the prior thirteen years?

No such blanket conclusion followed. The AG identified a three-year prescription rule and allowed for interruption or suspension under law.

Could the mayor set a new calculation method?

No. The opinion said the method depended on statutory business classification and could not be changed by the mayor.

Background and statutory framework

La. R.S. 47:341 authorized municipal occupational license taxes and supplied the calculation framework the AG applied. The opinion also addressed the ordinance adoption conditions and prescription of older charges. Its historical collection-period discussion should be read with the currency note above.

Citations

• La. R.S. 47:341: municipal occupational license tax authority and classification framework.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0099

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

~tate of 1fiouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATIORNEY GENERAL

August26,2013
OPINION 13-0099
135 Taxation - License taxes -liability of persons & property La. R.S. 47:341 et seq.
The Honorable Terry R. Brown
The Town of Tullos may collect occupational license taxes properly
State Representative, District 22 enacted by the Town's governing authority pursuant to La. R.S. 47:341,
510 Main Street
and which have not prescribed.

Colfax, Louisiana 71417

Dear Representative Brown:

You requested an opinion from this office in which you asked several questions regarding certain provisions of the occupational license tax, La. R.S. 47:341 et seq.

You indicated that, in the past thirteen years, the Town of Tullos (the "Town") has only collected payment of occupational license taxes from one business, a small liquor store.
That business paid an annual flat fee. Recently, the Town has pursued other businesses, including those that produce revenue from crude oil, gas, and licensed contractors. On February 21, 2013, the Town mailed occupational license tax applications to all businesses. The Town indicated that payment was due on January 1, 2013 and would be delinquent on March 1, 2013.

First, you ask whether the Town has the authority to collect an occupational license tax considering that it has not pursued collection from delinquent taxpayers within the last thirteen years.

Municipalities may impose an occupational license tax under La. R.S. 47:341, which provides as follows:

A. Any municipality or parish shall have the right to impose a license tax 'on any person conducting any business herein enumerated within the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality or parish at a rate which shall not exceed the maximum tax rates set forth in this Chapter, provided that the imposition of such license tax is approved by two-thirds of the elected members of the municipal or parochial governing authority and after affording the public an opportunity to comment at a minimum of three public hearings.

Page 2

The Honorable Terry R. Brown
Opinion 13-0099
Page -2­

B. The tax collector, administrator of finance, treasurer, or any other officer whose duty is to receive and collect the taxes and money due to each municipality or parish may enforce the collection of any and all taxes due.

Further, under La. Civ. Code art. 8, laws are repealed, either entirely or partially, by other laws. Thus, in the past thirteen years, the Town did not have to take any further
action to continue to impose the tax.
.

Moreover, we note that the occupational license tax is basically similar to the income tax in that it involves self-reporting. In fact, under La. RS. 47:351, the tax collector is not even required to make demand or put the person subject to the tax in default. So, the taxpayer must pay whether or not the Town sends reminder notices.

Assuming that the ordinance imposing the tax was approved by two-thirds of the elected members of the Town's governing authority after affording the public an opportunity to comment at a minimum of three public hearings and has not since been repealed, the ordinance is still valid. Thus, it may be enforced by the tax collector, administrator of finance, treasurer, or any other officer whose duty is to receive and collect the taxes.

Your next question pertains to the prescriptive period for collecting the tax. You ask whether the Town may collect occupational license taxes for the past thirteen years.

Under La. Const. art. VII, §16, "[t]axes, except real property taxes, and licenses shall prescribe in three years after the thirty-first day of December in the year in which they are due, but prescription may be interrupted or suspended as provided by law." Therefore, presently, the Town can only collect taxes due after December 31, 2009, unless prescription has been sufficiently interrupted or suspended as provided by law.

Finally, you ask whether the mayor can change the method of calculating the license tax due. We note that method of calculation depends on the classification of the business as set forth in La. RS. 47:341 ef seq. and cannot be changed by the mayor.

Considering the forgoing statutory authority, it is the opinion of this office that, assuming the ordinance imposing the occupational license tax was approved by two-thirds of the elected members of the Town's governing authority after affording the public an opportunity to comment at a minimum of three public hearings and has not since been repealed, the ordinance is still valid, and the Town can collect those occupational license taxes calculated under La. RS. 47:341 ef seq. that have not prescribed.

We trust this adequately responds to your request. However, if our office can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Page 3

The Honorable Terry R. Brown
Opinion 13-0099
Page -3­

Yours very truly,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
Attorney General

By~.IJ-:B?
BE IN A. HUXEN II
Assistant Attorney General
JDC/BAH II