1999 Minnesota Statutes

     297A.15 Collection and payment; penalty. 

    Subdivision 1.  Liability for the payment of the use tax is 
 not extinguished until the tax has been paid to Minnesota.  
 However, a receipt from a retailer given to the purchaser 
 pursuant to section 297A.16 relieves the purchaser of further 
 liability for the tax to which the receipt refers, unless the 
 purchaser knows or has reason to know that the retailer did not 
 have a permit to collect the tax.  

    Subd. 2. Repealed, 1988 c 719 art 10 s 20 

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 1990 c 480 art 1 s 45 

    Subd. 4.    Seizure; court review.  The commissioner of 
 revenue or the commissioner's duly authorized agents are 
 empowered to seize and confiscate in the name of the state any 
 truck, automobile or means of transportation not owned or 
 operated by a common carrier, used in the illegal importation 
 and transportation of any article or articles of tangible 
 personal property by a retailer or the retailer's agent or 
 employee who does not have a sales or use tax permit and has 
 been engaging in transporting personal property into the state 
 without payment of the tax.  The commissioner may demand the 
 forfeiture and sale of the truck, automobile or other means of 
 transportation together with the property being transported 
 illegally, unless the owner establishes to the satisfaction of 
 the commissioner or the court that the owner had no notice or 
 knowledge or reason to believe that the vehicle was used or 
 intended to be used in any such violation.  Within two days 
 after the seizure, the person making the seizure shall deliver 
 an inventory of the vehicle and property seized to the person 
 from whom the seizure was made, if known, and to any person 
 known or believed to have any right, title, interest or lien on 
 the vehicle or property, and shall also file a copy with the 
 commissioner.  Within ten days after the date of service of the 
 inventory, the person from whom the vehicle and property was 
 seized or any person claiming an interest in the vehicle or 
 property may file with the commissioner a demand for a judicial 
 determination of the question as to whether the vehicle or 
 property was lawfully subject to seizure and forfeiture.  The 
 commissioner, within 30 days, shall institute an action in the 
 district court of the county where the seizure was made to 
 determine the issue of forfeiture.  The action shall be brought 
 in the name of the state and shall be prosecuted by the county 
 attorney or by the attorney general.  The court shall hear the 
 action without a jury and shall try and determine the issues of 
 fact and law involved.  Whenever a judgment of forfeiture is 
 entered, the commissioner may, unless the judgment is stayed 
 pending an appeal, cause the forfeited vehicle and property to 
 be sold at public auction as provided by law.  If a demand for 
 judicial determination is made and no action is commenced as 
 provided in this subdivision, the vehicle and property shall be 
 released by the commissioner and redelivered to the person 
 entitled to it.  If no demand is made, the vehicle and property 
 seized shall be deemed forfeited to the state by operation of 
 law and may be disposed of by the commissioner as provided where 
 there has been a judgment of forfeiture.  The forfeiture and 
 sale of the automobile, truck or other means of transportation, 
 and of the property being transported illegally in it, is a 
 penalty for the violation of this chapter.  After deducting the 
 expense of keeping the vehicle and property, the fee for 
 seizure, and the costs of the sale, the commissioner shall pay 
 from the funds collected all liens according to their priority, 
 which are established at the hearing as being bona fide and as 
 existing without the lienor having any notice or knowledge that 
 the vehicle or property was being used or was intended to be 
 used for or in connection with any such violation as specified 
 in the order of the court, and shall pay the balance of the 
 proceeds into the state treasury to be credited to the general 
 fund.  The state shall not be liable for any liens in excess of 
 the proceeds from the sale after deductions provided.  Any sale 
 under the provisions of this section shall operate to free the 
 vehicle and property sold from any and all liens on it, and 
 appeal from the order of the district court will lie as in other 
 civil cases.  

    For the purposes of this section, "common carrier" means 
 any person engaged in transportation for hire of tangible 
 personal property by motor vehicle, limited to (1) a person 
 possessing a certificate or permit or having completed a 
 registration process that authorizes for-hire transportation of 
 property from the United States Department of Transportation, 
 the transportation regulation board, or the department of 
 transportation; or (2) any person transporting commodities 
 defined as "exempt" in for-hire transportation; or (3) any 
 person who pursuant to a contract with a person described in 
 clause (1) or (2) above transports tangible personal property.  

    Subd. 5.    Refund; appropriation.  Notwithstanding the 
 provisions of sections 297A.02, subdivision 5, and 297A.25, 
 subdivision 42, the tax on sales of capital equipment, and 
 replacement capital equipment, shall be imposed and collected as 
 if the rate under section 297A.02, subdivision 1, applied.  Upon 
 application by the purchaser, on forms prescribed by the 
 commissioner, a refund equal to the reduction in the tax due as 
 a result of the application of the exemption under section 
 297A.25, subdivision 42, and the rate under section 297A.02, 
 subdivision 5, shall be paid to the purchaser.  The application 
 must include sufficient information to permit the commissioner 
 to verify the sales tax paid for the project.  The application 
 shall include information necessary for the commissioner 
 initially to verify that the purchases qualified as capital 
 equipment under section 297A.25, subdivision 42, or replacement 
 capital equipment under section 297A.01, subdivision 20.  No 
 more than two applications for refunds may be filed under this 
 subdivision in a calendar year.  Unless otherwise specifically 
 provided by this subdivision, the provisions of sections 289A.40 
 and 289A.50 apply to the refunds payable under this 
 subdivision.  There is annually appropriated to the commissioner 
 of revenue the amount required to make the refunds. 

    The amount to be refunded shall bear interest at the rate 
 in section 270.76 from the date the refund claim is filed with 
 the commissioner. 

    Subd. 6.    Refund; appropriation.  The tax on the gross 
 receipts from the sale of items exempt under section 297A.25, 
 subdivision 43, must be imposed and collected as if the sale 
 were taxable and the rate under section 297A.02, subdivision 1, 
 applied. 

    Upon application by the owner of the homestead property on 
 forms prescribed by the commissioner, a refund equal to the tax 
 paid on the gross receipts of the building materials and 
 equipment must be paid to the homeowner.  In the case of 
 building materials in which the tax was paid by a contractor, 
 application must be made by the homeowner for the sales tax paid 
 by the contractor.  The application must include sufficient 
 information to permit the commissioner to verify the sales tax 
 paid for the project.  The contractor must furnish to the 
 homeowner a statement of the cost of building materials and the 
 sales taxes paid on the materials.  The amount required to make 
 the refunds is annually appropriated to the commissioner.  
 Interest must be paid on the refund at the rate in section 
 270.76 from 60 days after the date the refund claim is filed 
 with the commissioner. 

    Subd. 7.    Refund; appropriation; adult and juvenile 
 correctional facilities.  If construction materials and 
 supplies described in section 297A.25, subdivision 65, are 
 purchased by a contractor, subcontractor, or builder as part of 
 a lump-sum contract or similar type of contract with a price 
 covering both labor and materials for use in the project, a 
 refund equal to the taxes paid by the contractor, subcontractor, 
 or builder must be paid to the governmental subdivision.  The 
 tax must be imposed and collected as if the sales were taxable 
 and the rate under section 297A.02, subdivision 1, applied.  An 
 application for refund must be submitted by the governmental 
 subdivision and must include sufficient information to permit 
 the commissioner to verify the sales taxes paid for the 
 project.  The contractor, subcontractor, or builder must furnish 
 to the governmental subdivision a statement of the cost of the 
 construction materials and supplies and the sales taxes paid on 
 them.  The amount required to make the refunds is annually 
 appropriated to the commissioner.  Interest must be paid on the 
 refund at the rate in section 270.76 from 60 days after the date 
 the refund claim is filed with the commissioner. 

    HIST: Ex1967 c 32 art 13 s 15; 1969 c 915 s 1; 1975 c 397 s 2; 
 1980 c 614 s 123; 1983 c 247 s 128; 1984 c 502 art 6 s 7; 1985 c 
 248 s 70; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 8 s 17; 1986 c 441 s 7; 1986 c 444; 
 1988 c 719 art 10 s 2,3; 1Sp1989 c 1 art 12 s 4,5; 1990 c 480 
 art 1 s 46; 1992 c 464 art 2 s 4; 1992 c 511 art 7 s 21,22; art 
 8 s 12; 1994 c 587 art 2 s 7; 1995 c 264 art 2 s 26; 1996 c 471 
 art 2 s 14; art 9 s 3,4; 1997 c 231 art 7 s 10; 1997 c 251 s 21; 1999 c 
 243 art 16 s 22