[Adopted 6-29-1993]
For the purpose of this article, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to
them by this section:
All food and drink, including alcoholic beverages, offered
for sale in a form ready for consumption. The term "meal" shall not
be deemed to include food or drink sold by any nonprofit or government
subsidized school or institution of learning to its students or employees.
Any person who purchases a meal.
Any place located in the Town from or in which meals are
sold, including, but not limited to, drugstores, eating houses, public
and private clubs, bars, cafeterias, grills, diners, dining rooms,
eateries and places of business known as "restaurants," including
fast-food and drive-in restaurants. Supermarkets, grocery stores and
convenience stores which sell sandwiches and similar prepared foods
for consumption off-premises as a supplement to the primary business
of selling food which is not ready for consumption and other products
shall be deemed to be restaurants for the purpose of this article.
Any person who sells a meal.
The Town Treasurer of the Town of Stanley.
There is hereby imposed and levied by the Town,
in addition to all other taxes, fees and charges of every kind now
or hereafter imposed by law, a tax upon each and every meal sold in
the Town in or from a restaurant, whether prepared in the restaurant
or not, and whether consumed on the premises or not, based upon the
amount which the purchaser is charged by the seller for the meal,
of $0.01 when the amount of the charge is more than $0.14 but less
than $1, and otherwise at the rate of 4% of the total charge when
the amount of the charge is greater than $1, $0.005 being treated
as $0.01.
The tax shall be collected by the seller from
the purchaser at the time that the charge for the meal shall be due
and payable, whether such payment shall be made in cash or on credit
by means of a credit card or otherwise. The seller shall separately
state the amount of the tax and add such tax to the amount charged
for the meal. The tax shall be paid to the Town for its use by the
seller as hereinafter provided.
All money collected as taxes under this article
shall be deemed to be held in trust by the seller who has collected
the same until remitted to the Town as hereinafter provided.
[Amended 2-13-2019]
Every seller shall make a report for each calendar
month, which report shall show the amount of the meal charges collected
and the tax required to be collected, upon forms prescribed and provided
by the Town Treasurer, and shall sign and deliver such report to the
Town Treasurer with remittance of the collected tax. Such reports
and remittances shall be made to the Town Treasurer on or before the
20th day of the calendar month following the month for which the report
is made. The tax required to be collected and remitted to the Town
Treasurer may be computed by the seller on the basis of 4% of the
total amount of meal charges collected for the calendar month.
Meals furnished to employees in the course of
or in connection with their employment in restaurants shall not be
considered sales of meals under this article.
No person 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
him or by anyone else or that he or anyone else will relieve any purchaser
of the payment of all or any part of such tax. Any person who violates
this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
If any person whose duty it is to do so shall
fail or refuse to remit to the Town Treasurer the tax required to
be collected under this article within the time and in the amount
specified in this article, there shall be added to such tax by the
Town Treasurer a penalty in the amount of 10% thereof and interest
thereon at the judgment rate, which shall be computed upon the tax
and penalty for each month or portion thereof from the date when such
tax was due and payable.
If any person whose duty it is to do so should
fail or refuse to collect the meals tax or to make timely reports
and remittances as required by this article, the Town Treasurer shall
proceed in such manner as he may deem best to obtain the facts and
information upon which an estimate of the tax due can be made. As
soon as the Town Treasurer procures such facts and information as
he is able to obtain, he shall proceed to determine and assess against
such person failing or refusing to comply with the provisions of this
article such tax, penalty and interest as is provided for in this
article and shall notify such person, by registered mail, at his last
known address, of the amount of such tax, interest and penalty. The
total amount of tax, interest and penalty shall be payable within
10 days of the mailing of such notice.
It shall be the duty of every person required
by this article to collect the meals tax and remit the same to the
Town to keep and preserve for a period of two years complete records
showing all purchases taxable under this article, the amount charged
each purchaser for each purchase, the date thereof, the taxes collected
thereon and the amount of tax required to be collected by this article.
For the purpose of administering and enforcing the provisions of this
article, the Town 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 and to
make transcripts or copies of any and all parts thereof.
Should any person required to collect and remit
to the Town a meals tax under this article cease to operate or otherwise
dispose of his business, any tax payable under this article to the
Town shall become immediately due and payable, and such person shall
immediately make a report and pay the tax due.
A.
Meals sold by charitable organizations for fund-raising
purposes or as a social event for the membership of the organization
shall be exempt from the provisions of this article.
B.
For the purposes of this section, the term "charitable
organization" shall be deemed to include any organization operated
exclusively for religious, charitable, community or educational purposes;
an association of war veterans, a fraternal association operating
under the lodge system or a voluntary fire department or rescue squad
officially recognized by the Town Council as being part of this safety
program of the Town.
Any person violating or failing to comply with
any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a Class 1
misdemeanor. Each such violation or failure and each day's continuance
thereof shall constitute a separate offense. Any such conviction shall
not relieve any person from the payment, collection or remittance
of such tax, penalties and interest as is provided in this article.
If any existing Stanley Town ordinance is in
conflict herewith, that ordinance is repeated to the extent that it
conflicts herewith. If this article conflicts with any Virginia state
law, such Virginia state law shall control to the extent of the conflict.
See similar state statutes in Virginia Code
§§ 58.1-3833; 58.1-3841; 58.1-3840; and 58.1-3711.
