Could Jackson Parish waive sales tax on materials for a new hotel?

Plain-English summary

Jackson Parish’s police jury asked whether it could exempt construction materials for a planned Jonesboro hotel from its one-percent parish sales and use tax. The company building the hotel sought the waiver, and the police jury also asked about granting similar waivers case by case for other building projects. In August 2015, the Attorney General concluded that the police jury could not grant the hotel exemption because it found no authority for it in the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code.

The opinion read La. R.S. 47:337.7 to require a local sales-tax exemption to be provided in that code. It reviewed the exemptions in La. R.S. 47:337.9 and La. R.S. 47:337.10 and found none for materials bought to construct a hotel. The AG allowed that an exemption for another person or business might be possible if the code authorized that particular exemption.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. 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.

Common questions

Could Jackson Parish waive sales tax just for the proposed Sleep Inn project?

No. The AG found no exemption in the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code for the hotel’s construction materials, so the police jury could not grant the requested waiver.

Could the police jury decide construction-material exemptions case by case?

Only where the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code authorized the particular exemption. The opinion did not give the police jury a general power to waive its tax for building projects.

Did the tax’s dedication to roads and solid waste change the answer?

The opinion noted those dedicated uses but based its answer on the absence of an authorized exemption in the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code.

Background and statutory framework

Jackson Parish levied a one-percent sales and use tax dedicated to road construction and solid waste. La. R.S. 47:337.7 limited new local exemptions to those enacted in the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code. The AG checked La. R.S. 47:337.9 and La. R.S. 47:337.10 for an applicable exemption and found none for hotel-construction materials.

Citations

• La. R.S. 47:337.7 (local sales-tax exemption rule).
• La. R.S. 47:337.9 (exemptions and exclusions considered).
• La. R.S. 47:337.10 (discretionary local exemptions considered).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/15-0070

Original opinion text

~tate of Ifioutsinnn
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70B04-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWEll
ATIORNEYGENERAL

AUG 03 2015
OPINION 15-0070

SO-A-l PUBLIC FUNDS & CONTRACTS
11S-TAXATION, EXEMPTIONS
Darrell R. Avery
l60-TAXATiON-SALES TAX
Assistant District Attorney
Second Judicial District
La. RS. 47:337.7
La. RS. 47:337.S
500 East Court Avenue
La. RS. 47:337.10
Room 201
The Jackson Parish Police Jury may not grant an exemption
Jonesboro, LA 71251
to a business from the payment of the Parish sales and use
tax related to the purchase of materials and supplies purchased in connection with the construction of a hotel absent an exemption set forth in the Uniform Local Sales Tax
Dear Mr. Avery: Code.

On behalf of the Jackson Parish Police Jury (the "Police Jury"), you have requested an opinion from this office regarding the authority of the Police Jury to waive or grant an exemption to a person or business from the payment of a Jackson Parish sales and use tax. Specifically, you have indicated that the Police Jury currently levies a 1% Parish sales and use tax, which is dedicated to road construction and solid waste. Your request states that Global Hotels International, LLC ("Global Hotels") plans to build a Sleep Inn Hotel in the Town of Jonesboro located in Jackson Parish. Global Hotels has requested a waiver or exemption from the 1% sales and use tax for all materials purchased in connection with the construction of the hotel. You have asked whether the Police Jury has the authority to grant such an exemption or waiver of the sales and use tax to Global Hotels. You have also asked whether the Police Jury may grant an exemption or waiver of the sales and use tax to any person or business, on a case by case basis, for materials and supplies purchased in connection with building projects within Jackson Parish.

Sales and use taxes imposed and levied by political subdivisions of the State of Louisiana are governed by the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code, found at La. R.S.
47:337.1 et seq. La. R.S. 47:337.7 states, in relevant part:

No exemption from sales and use tax enacted or granted after July 1, 2003, shall be applicable to any sales and use tax levied by any political subdivision unless such exemption is enacted as an amendment to this Chapter...

Page 2

Darrell Avery
Opinion 15-0070
Page -2­

This provision means that no exemption for the payment of a local sales and use tax can be granted unless that exemption is provided for in the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code. La. R.S. 47:337.9 contains numerous exemptions and exclusions that are applicable to State sales tax as well as local sales tax, while La. R.S. 47:337.10 provides numerous exemptions for local sales and use taxes that can be granted by political subdivisions at its discretion. Despite the exhaustive list contained in those statutes, as well as other provisions of the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code, nothing appears to authorize an exemption to businesses for materials purchased in connection with the construction of a hotel.

Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the Jackson Parish Police Jury may not grant an exemption to Global Hotels International, LLC from the payment of the Parish sales and use tax, because the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code does not authorize such an exemption. It may be permissible for the Police Jury to grant an exemption to another person or business, as long as that exemption is authorized by the Uniform Local Sales Tax Code.

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

Yours very truly,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY. ENEr~

By: C~
Jo n C. Morris IV
A sistant Attorney General
JDC/JCMIV