[Added 6-20-2000]
The following words and phrases, when used in this article, shall have for the purposes of this article the following respective meanings, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
CATER
The furnishing of food, beverages, or both on the premises of another, for compensation.
COLLECTOR
The Treasurer or designee.
FOOD
All food, beverages or both, including alcoholic beverages, purchased in, at, or from a food establishment, whether prepared in such food establishment or not, and whether consumed on the premises or not, and without regard to the manner, time or place of service.
FOOD ESTABLISHMENT
Any place in or from which food or food products are prepared, packaged, sold or distributed in the Town of Louisa, including, but not limited to, any restaurant, dining room, grill, coffee shop, cafeteria, cafe, snack bar, lunch counter, convenience store, movie theater, delicatessen, confectionery, bakery, eating house, eatery, drugstore, ice cream/yogurt shops, lunch wagon or truck, pushcart or other mobile facility from which food is sold, public or private club, resort, bar, lounge, or other similar establishment, public or private, and shall include private property outside of and contiguous to a building or structure operated as a food establishment at which food or food products are sold for immediate consumption.
MEAL
Any prepared food or drink offered or held out for sale by a food establishment for the purpose of being consumed by any person to satisfy the appetite and ready for immediate consumption. All such food and beverage, unless otherwise specifically exempted or excluded herein, shall be included, whether intended to be consumed on the seller's premises or elsewhere, whether designated as breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, supper or by some other name, and without regard to the manner, time or place of service.
TREASURER
The Treasurer of the Town of Louisa and any duly designated deputies, assistants, inspectors or other employees.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
There is hereby imposed and levied by the Town of Louisa on each person a tax at the rate of 5.5% on the amount paid for meals purchased from any food establishment, whether prepared in such food establishment or not, and whether consumed on the premises or not. There shall be no tax if the total amount paid is $0.50 or less; on larger amounts, a fractional cent of tax shall be rounded to the next higher cent. The tax shall be collected in the manner and at the time prescribed by this article.
A. 
Every person receiving any payment for food with respect to which a tax is levied hereunder shall collect and remit the amount of the tax imposed by this article from the person on whom the same is levied or from the person paying for such food at the time payment for such food is made; provided, however, no blind person operating a vending stand or other business enterprise under the jurisdiction of the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired and located on property acquired and used by the United States for any military or naval purpose shall be required to collect or remit such taxes.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
B. 
All tax collections shall be deemed to be held in trust for the Town of Louisa.
A. 
The tax imposed under this article shall not be levied on factory-prepackaged candy, gum, nuts and other items of essentially the same nature served for on- or off-premises consumption.
B. 
The tax imposed under this article shall not be levied on the following items when served exclusively for off-premises consumption:
(1) 
Donuts, ice cream, crackers, nabs, chips, cookies and factory-prepackaged items of essentially the same nature.
(2) 
Food sold in bulk. For the purposes of this provision, a “bulk sale” shall mean the sale of any item that would exceed the normal, customary and usual portion sold for on-premises consumption (e.g., a whole cake, a gallon of ice cream); a bulk sale shall not include any food or beverage that is catered or delivered by a food establishment for off-premises consumption.
(3) 
Alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages sold in factory-sealed containers.
(4) 
Any food or food product purchased with food coupons issued by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Food Stamp Program or drafts issued through the Virginia Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
(5) 
Any food or food product purchased for home consumption as defined in the federal Food Stamp Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. § 2012, as amended, except hot food or hot food products ready for immediate consumption. For the purposes of administering the tax levied hereunder, the following items, whether or not purchased for immediate consumption, are excluded from the said definition of food in the federal Food Stamp Act: sandwiches, salad bar items sold from a salad bar, prepackaged single-serving salads consisting primarily of an assortment of vegetables, and non-factory-sealed beverages. This subsection shall not affect provisions set forth in Subsection D(3), (4) and (5) hereinbelow.
C. 
A grocery store, supermarket or convenience store shall not be subject to the tax except for any portion or section therein designated as a delicatessen or designated for the sale of prepared food and beverages.
D. 
The tax imposed hereunder shall not be levied on the following purchases of food and beverages:
(1) 
Food and beverages furnished by food establishments to employees as part of their compensation when no charge is made to the employee.
(2) 
Food and beverages sold by day-care centers, public or private elementary or secondary schools or food sold by any college or university to its students or employees.
(3) 
Food and beverages for use or consumption and which are paid for directly by the commonwealth, any political subdivision of the commonwealth or the United States.
(4) 
Food and beverages furnished by a hospital, medical clinic, convalescent home, nursing home, home for the aged, infirm, handicapped, battered women, narcotic addicts or alcoholics, or other extended-care facility to patients or residents thereof and the spouses and children of such persons.
(5) 
Food and beverages furnished by a public or private nonprofit charitable organization or establishment or a private establishment that contracts with the appropriate agency of the commonwealth to offer meals at concession prices to elderly, infirm, blind, handicapped or needy persons in their homes or at central locations.
(6) 
By volunteer fire departments and volunteer emergency medical services agencies; nonprofit churches or other religious bodies; or educational, charitable, fraternal, or benevolent organizations, the first three times per calendar year and, beginning with the fourth time, on the first $100,000 of gross receipts per calendar year from sales of meals (excluding gross receipts from the first three times), as a fund-raising activity, the gross proceeds of which are to be used by such church, religious body or organization exclusively for nonprofit educational, charitable, benevolent, or religious purposes.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
(7) 
Food and beverages sold through vending machines.
A. 
Where a purchaser provides a gratuity for an employee of a seller, and the amount of the gratuity is wholly in the discretion of the purchaser, the gratuity is not subject to the tax imposed by this article, whether paid in cash to the employee or added to the bill and charged to the purchaser's account, provided, in the latter case, the full amount of the gratuity is turned over to the employee by the seller.
B. 
No such taxes on meals may be imposed on that portion of the amount paid by the purchaser as a mandatory gratuity or service charge added by the restaurant in addition to the sales price of the meal, but only to the extent that such mandatory gratuity or service charge does not exceed 20% of the sales price.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
It shall be the duty of every person required by this article to pay to the Town of Louisa the taxes imposed by this article to make a report thereof setting forth such information as the Treasurer may prescribe and require, including all purchases taxable under this article, the amount charged the purchaser for each such purchase, the date thereof, the taxes collected thereon and the amount of tax required to be collected by this article. Such records shall be kept and preserved for a period of five years. The Treasurer or his duly authorized agents shall have the power to examine such records, at reasonable times and without unreasonable interference with the business of such person, for the purpose of administering and enforcing the provisions of this article, and to make transcripts of all or any parts thereof.
A. 
Any person willfully failing or refusing to file a return as required under this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, except that any person failing to file such a return shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor if the amount of tax lawfully assessed in connection with the return is $1,000 or less. Any person violating or failing to comply with any other provision of this article shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. 
Except as provided in Subsection A above, any corporate or partnership officer, as defined in Virginia Code § 58.1-3906, or any other person required to collect, account for, or pay over the meals tax imposed under this article, who willfully fails to collect or truthfully account for or pay over such tax, or who willfully evades or attempts to evade such tax or payment thereof, shall, in addition to any other penalties imposed by law, be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
C. 
Each violation of or failure to comply with this article shall constitute a separate offense. Conviction of any such violation shall not relieve any person from the payment, collection or remittance of the tax as provided in this article.
No seller shall advertise or hold out to the public in any manner, directly or indirectly, that all or any part of the tax imposed under this article will be paid or absorbed by the seller or anyone else, or that the seller or anyone else will relieve the purchaser of payment of all or any of the tax.
Whenever any seller required to collect and remit and pay to the Town the tax imposed under this article shall cease to operate, go out of business, or otherwise dispose of his business, any tax payable under this article shall become immediately due and payable and such person shall immediately make a report to the Treasurer and pay the tax due to the Treasurer.
For the purpose of compensating the sellers for the collection of the tax imposed by this article, every seller shall be allowed 3% of the amount of the tax due and accounted for in the form of a deduction on his monthly return, provided the amount due is not delinquent at the time of payment.
It shall be the duty of the Town Treasurer to ascertain the name of every seller liable for collection and remittance of the tax imposed by this article who fails, refuses, or neglects to collect such tax or to make the reports and remittances required by this article. The Town Treasurer shall have all the enforcement powers as authorized by Chapter 39 of Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia for the purposes of this article. The Town Treasurer may have issued a summons for such person who fails, neglects or refuses to collect such tax imposed by this article, and the summons may be served upon such person by any Town police officer in the manner provided by law. One return of the original summons shall be made to the General District Court with jurisdiction over matters arising within the Town.
If any seller, whose duty it is to do so, shall fail, neglect or refuse to collect the tax imposed under this article and/or to make, within the time provided in this article, the report and remittances mentioned in this article, the Treasurer shall proceed in such manner as he/she may deem best to obtain facts and information on which to base his/her estimate of the tax due. As soon as the Treasurer shall procure such facts and information as he/she is able to obtain upon which to base the assessment of any tax payable by any seller who has failed, neglected or refused to collect such tax and to make such report and remittance, the Treasurer shall proceed to determine and assess against such seller the tax, penalties and interest provided for in this article and shall notify such seller, by registered mail sent to the seller's last known place of address, of the total amount of such tax, penalties and interest. The total amount thereof shall be payable within 10 days from the date such notice is mailed.
The Treasurer shall have the power and the duty of collecting the taxes imposed and levied hereunder and shall cause the same to be paid into the general treasury of the Town.
A. 
If any seller whose duty it is to do so shall fail, neglect or refuse to file any report required by this article or to remit to the Treasurer the tax required to be collected and paid under this article within the time and in the amount specified in this article, there shall be added to such tax by the Treasurer a penalty in the amount of 10% of the total amount of the tax owed, or a minimum of $10, whichever is greater; provided that no penalty shall exceed the amount of the tax due. The Town Treasurer shall also assess interest upon the tax and penalty at the rate of 10% per annum from the date after the tax is due to the date of payment.
B. 
In the case of a fraudulent return with intent to defraud the Town of any tax due under this article, a penalty of 50% of the tax shall be assessed against the person required to collect such tax.
All reports and remittances required by this article shall be made on or before the 20th day of each month, covering the amount of tax collected during the preceding month. The Treasurer may require all prospective sellers of food or meals subject to the provisions of this article and licensed to do business in the Town to register for the collection of the tax imposed by this article.