§ 8-3. Due dates and penalties.

(a)

Each person subject to a license tax shall apply for a license prior to beginning business, if he was not subject to licensing in the town on or before January 1 of the license year, or no later than May 1 of the current license year if he had been issued a license for the preceding license year. The application shall be on forms prescribed by the treasurer.

(b)

Every application for a license shall have incorporated therein or annexed thereto the affidavit of the applicant to the effect that the statements contained in the application are true. If the applicant is an individual, the affidavit must be made by him, if by one of the members and, if a corporation, by the officer having knowledge of the correctness of the statements made in the application.

(c)

The tax shall be paid with the application in the case of any license not based on gross receipts. If the tax is measured by the gross receipts of the business, the tax shall be paid on or before May 1 of each calendar year.

(d)

The treasurer may grant an extension of time, not to exceed 90 days, in which to file an application for a license, for reasonable cause. The extension shall be conditioned upon the timely payment of a reasonable estimate of the appropriate tax, subject to adjustment to the correct tax at the end of the extension, together with interest from the due date until the date paid and, if the estimate submitted with the extension is found to be unreasonable under the circumstances, a penalty of ten percent of the portion paid after the due date. Any request for extension must be received by the treasurer prior to the due date. Any approved extension from the Internal Revenue Service does not automatically qualify for an extension from the town.

(e)

A penalty of ten percent of the tax may be imposed upon the failure to file an application or the failure to pay the tax by the appropriate due date. Only the late filing penalty shall be imposed by the treasurer if both the application and payment are late; however, both penalties may be assessed if the treasurer determines that the taxpayer has a history of noncompliance. In the case of an assessment of additional tax made by the treasurer, if the application and, if applicable, the return was made in good faith and the understatement of the tax was not due to any fraud, reckless or intentional disregard of the law by the taxpayer, there shall be no late payment penalty assessed with the additional tax. If any assessment of tax by the treasurer is not paid within 30 days, the treasurer may impose a ten-percent late payment penalty. The penalties shall not be imposed or, if imposed, shall be abated by the official who assessed them, if the failure to file or pay was not the fault of the taxpayer. In order to demonstrate lack of fault, the taxpayer must show that he acted responsibly and that the failure was due to events beyond his control. The term "acted responsibly" means that:

(1)

The taxpayer exercised the level of reasonable care that a prudent person would exercise under the circumstances in determining the filing obligations for the business;

(2)

The taxpayer undertook significant steps to avoid or mitigate the failure, such as requesting appropriate extensions (where applicable), attempting to prevent a foreseeable impediment, acting to remove an impediment once it occurred, and promptly rectifying a failure once the impediment was removed or the failure discovered. The term "events beyond the taxpayer's control" include, but are not limited to, the unavailability of records due to fire or other casualty; the unavoidable absence (e.g., due to death or serious illness) of the person with the sole responsibility for tax compliance; or the taxpayer's reasonable reliance in good faith upon erroneous written information from the treasurer, who was aware of the relevant facts relating to the taxpayer's business when he provided the erroneous information.

(3)

Interest shall be charged on the late payment of the tax from the due date until the date paid without regard to fault or other reason for the late payment. Whenever an assessment of additional or omitted tax by the treasurer is found to be erroneous, all interest and penalty charged and collected on the amount of the assessment found to be erroneous shall be refunded, together with interest on the refund from the date of payment or the due date, whichever is later. Interest shall be paid on the refund of any tax paid under this article from the date of payment or due date, whichever is later, whether attributable to an amended return or other reason. Interest on any refund shall be paid at the same rate charged under the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3916.

(4)

No interest shall accrue on an adjustment of estimated tax liability to actual liability at the conclusion of a base year. No interest shall be paid on a refund or charged on a late payment, in event of such adjustment, provided the refund or the late payment is made not more than 30 days from the date of the payment that created the refund, or the due date of the tax, whichever is later.

(5)

Any person who knowingly falsifies gross receipts or other material fact to obtain a license as required herein for an amount less than that which should be paid hereunder shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.

(f)

As one of the means of ascertaining the amount of any license tax, the treasurer may propound interrogatories to each applicant and use such other evidence as he may procure. Such interrogatories shall be answered under oath, and any applicant refusing to answer such interrogatories under oath shall be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $100.00 for each offense.

(g)

Whenever a license is required by this section, it shall be unlawful to engage in any such business without a license (the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3700). Any person who conducts business without a license shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Each day's violations shall constitute a separate offense.

(h)

Enforcement of this section shall be by the town's police department under the direction of the town manager.

(Comp. Ords., § 11.2)

(Comp. Ords., § 11.2)