1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to sales taxes; allowing a vendor allowance;
1.3 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 289A.31,
1.4 	subdivision 7, by adding a subdivision.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 289A.31,
1.7 	subdivision 7, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subd. 7.Sales and use tax.  (a) The sales and use tax
1.9 	required to be collected by the retailer under chapter 297A
1.10 	constitutes a debt owed by the retailer to Minnesota, and the
1.11 	sums collected must be held as a special fund in trust for the
1.12 	state of Minnesota.
1.13 	A retailer who does not maintain a place of business within
1.14 	this state as defined by section 297A.66, subdivision 1, shall
1.15 	not be indebted to Minnesota for amounts of tax that it was
1.16 	required to collect but did not collect unless the retailer knew
1.17 	or had been advised by the commissioner of its obligation to
1.18 	collect the tax.
1.19 	(b) The use tax required to be paid by a purchaser is a
1.20 	debt owed by the purchaser to Minnesota.
1.21 	(c) The tax imposed by chapter 297A, and interest and
1.22 	penalties, is a personal debt of the individual required to file
1.23 	a return from the time the liability arises, irrespective of
1.24 	when the time for payment of that liability occurs.  The debt
1.25 	is, in the case of the executor or administrator of the estate
2.1 	of a decedent and in the case of a fiduciary, that of the
2.2 	individual in an official or fiduciary capacity unless the
2.3 	individual has voluntarily distributed the assets held in that
2.4 	capacity without reserving sufficient assets to pay the tax,
2.5 	interest, and penalties, in which case the individual is
2.6 	personally liable for the deficiency.
2.7 	(d) Liability for payment of sales and use taxes includes
2.8 	any responsible person or entity described in the personal
2.9 	liability provisions of section 270.101.
2.10 	(e) Any amounts collected, except as provided in section 2,
2.11 	even if erroneously or illegally collected, from a purchaser
2.12 	under a representation that they are taxes imposed under chapter
2.13 	297A are state funds from the time of collection and must be
2.14 	reported on a return filed with the commissioner.
2.15 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for sales and
2.16 	use tax collected after December 31, 2005, and remitted after
2.17 	January 1, 2006.

2.18 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 289A.31, is
2.19 	amended by adding a subdivision to read:
2.20 		Subd. 7a.Deduction for retailer collection allowance. A
2.21 	retailer, if remitting the sales tax imposed under chapter 297A
2.22 	in a timely fashion, is entitled to deduct and retain from the
2.23 	amount of taxes otherwise required to be remitted a retailer
2.24 	collection allowance equal to 0.5 percent of the taxpayer's
2.25 	liability for the current remittance period, not to exceed an
2.26 	amount of $500 per month for the remittance period.  The vendor
2.27 	collection allowance does not apply to use tax owed by the
2.28 	retailer on its own purchases.
2.29 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for sales and
2.30 	use tax collected after December 31, 2005, and remitted after
2.31 	January 1, 2006.