(a) All vendors subject to this Article shall timely collect and be liable for an amount equivalent to two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the price or cost paid for the short-term rental unit and shall, before the twentieth day of each month, make a return to the Town for the preceding calendar month and remit said collected tax amounts to the Town; however, in the event the tax collected in a month is less than three hundred dollars ($300.00), then the return and remittance may be performed at the end of the calendar quarter. Vendors shall compute and add the two and one-half percent (2.5%) tax to all taxable amounts in accordance with the tax schedule established by the Finance Director, said schedule to be designed so that no tax is imposed and collected on a sale or charge of seventeen cents ($0.17) or less.

(b) All returns and remittances shall be made in such a manner and upon such forms as the Finance Director may prescribe, inclusive of the standard reporting forms devised by the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Revenue. The Finance Director may extend the time for making a return and paying the taxes due under such reasonable rules, regulations or conditions as he or she may determine necessary from time to time.

(c) If the accounting methods regularly employed by a vendor, or other conditions, are such that reporting taxable sales and remitting the collected tax on a calendar month basis will impose an unnecessary hardship, the Finance Director may, upon written request of the vendor, accept reports and remittances at such intervals as will, in his or her opinion, better suit the convenience of the vendor while not jeopardizing the collection of the tax; provided, however, that the Finance Director may not permit vendors to make returns and pay taxes at intervals greater than every three (3) months, and any failure by the vendor to timely remit all taxes due under such alternate method of reporting shall, upon written notice to the vendor, result in the immediate revocation of such alternate method.

(d) A vendor doing business in two (2) or more places or locations within the Town may file one (1) return covering all such business locations.

(e) If any vendor during a reporting period collects a total tax amount in excess of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the total taxable charges or sales, the vendor shall remit to the Town the full net amount of the tax imposed along with any collected excess. The retention by a vendor of any excess collected tax, or the intentional failure to remit punctually to the Town the full amount required to be remitted by the provisions of this Article, is unlawful.

(f) Should a dispute arise between a consumer and vendor as to whether or not a charge or sale is exempt from taxation hereunder, the vendor shall nevertheless collect and the consumer shall pay such tax, and the vendor shall thereupon issue to the consumer a receipt or certificate on a form prescribed by the Finance Director showing the names of the vendor and consumer, the transaction, sale and/or price subject to the dispute, the date and amount of tax paid, and a brief statement of the claim for exemption. The consumer may apply to the Finance Director thereafter for a refund of the tax, and it shall then be the duty of the Finance Director to determine the question of exemption.

(g) A vendor may retain one and thirty-five one-hundredths percent (1.35%) of the sum of the affordable housing short-term rental tax remitted to the Town to cover the vendor’s expense in the collection and remittance of the tax; except that, in the event a vendor is delinquent or deficient in remitting said tax to the Town, other than for unusual circumstances demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Finance Director, the vendor shall not be allowed to retain any amounts to cover such expenses in collecting and remitting the tax.

(h) Interest shall accrue on all delinquent or deficient payments of the affordable housing short-term rental tax from the date of delinquency or underpayment to the date of full payment at the rate of one percent (1%) per month. Interest shall be calculated for each month, or portion of a month, that a tax delinquency or deficiency remains unpaid. A penalty equal to ten percent (10%) of the delinquent or deficient tax amount shall also be paid, unless the delinquency or deficiency is due to fraud or an intent to evade the tax, in which case the penalty shall be one hundred percent (100%) of the total amount of such delinquency or deficiency, and the same shall be due and paid, along with the unpaid tax, within twenty (20) days after written notice and demand for payment is made by the Town. No interest shall be allowed or paid on any overpayment of the excise tax.

(i) The timely submission of a collection report and/or payment of the affordable housing short-term rental tax required under this Article shall be evidenced by the U.S. Mail postmark date if mailed, or by the Town’s stamped receipt validation date if submitted by other method of delivery. Any due date, payment date or deadline for submitting a report and/or remitting payment of the affordable housing short-term rental tax, or for providing information or taking other action, which falls on a weekend or legal holiday recognized by the Town or federal or state government, shall be automatically extended to the first business day following such weekend or holiday.

(j) It is unlawful for any person to submit false information in connection with a collection report and/or tax return. (Ord. 1498 §1 (Exh. A), 2019)