[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Pequannock 7-13-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-13. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
There is hereby imposed a transfer tax of 2% on receipts from
the sale of cannabis by a cannabis º establishment to another
cannabis establishment. Such tax shall be collected or paid and remitted
to the municipality by the cannabis establishment from the cannabis
establishment purchasing or receiving the cannabis or cannabis item.
The transfer tax shall be stated, charged, and shown separately on
any sales slip, invoice, receipt, or other statement or memorandum
of the price paid or payable, or equivalent value of the transfer,
for the cannabis or cannabis item. No cannabis establishment required
to collect a transfer tax imposed hereunder shall advertise or hold
out to any person or to the public in general, in any manner, directly
or indirectly, that the transfer tax or user tax will not be separately
charged and stated to another cannabis establishment, or that the
transfer tax will be refunded to the cannabis establishment.
Every cannabis establishment required to collect a transfer
tax imposed pursuant to this chapter shall be personally liable for
the transfer tax or user tax imposed, collected, or required to be
collected under this chapter. Any cannabis establishment shall have
the same right with respect to collecting the transfer tax from another
cannabis establishment as if the transfer tax was a part of the sale
and payable at the same time, or with respect to nonpayment of the
transfer tax or user tax by the cannabis establishment, as if the
transfer tax was a part of the purchase price of the cannabis or cannabis
item, or equivalent value of the transfer of the cannabis or cannabis
item, and payable at the same time; provided, however, that the chief
fiscal officer of the municipality shall be joined as a party in any
action or proceeding brought to collect the transfer tax or user tax.
All revenues collected from a transfer tax imposed by ordinance
pursuant to this chapter shall be remitted to the Chief Financial
Officer in the manner prescribed herein. The Chief Financial Officer
shall collect and administer any transfer tax imposed by ordinance
pursuant to this chapter. The municipality may enforce the payment
of delinquent taxes or transfer fees imposed by ordinance pursuant
to this chapter in the same manner as provided for municipal real
estate property taxes. In the event that the transfer tax imposed
by ordinance pursuant to this chapter is not paid as and when due
by a cannabis establishment, the unpaid balance, and any interest
accruing thereon, shall be a lien on the parcel of real property comprising
the cannabis establishment's premises in the same manner as all other
unpaid municipal taxes, fees, or other charges. The lien shall be
superior and paramount to the interest in the parcel of any owner,
lessee, tenant, mortgagee, or other person, except the lien of municipal
taxes, and shall be on a parity with and deemed equal to the municipal
lien on the parcel for unpaid property taxes due and owing in the
same year. The municipality shall file in the office of its Tax Collector
a statement showing the amount and due date of the unpaid balance
and identifying the lot and block number of the parcel of real property
that comprises the delinquent cannabis establishment's premises. The
lien shall be enforced as a municipal lien in the same manner as all
other municipal liens are enforced.
The Chief Financial Officer is charged with the administration
and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and is empowered
to prescribe, adopt, promulgate and enforce rules and regulations
relating to any matter pertaining to the administration and enforcement
of this chapter, including provisions for the reexamination and corrections
of declarations and returns, and of payments alleged or found to be
incorrect, or as to which an overpayment is claimed or found to have
occurred, and to prescribe forms necessary for the administration
of this chapter. Should a cannabis establishment fail or refuse to
provide adequate information to the Chief Financial Officer to determine
the amount of tax due, the Chief Financial Officer may use information
provided to the Chief Financial Officer from other sources (i.e.,
the Commission or Department of Treasury) to determine the amount
of tax liability.
A. It shall be the duty of the Chief Financial Officer to collect and
receive the taxes, fines, and penalties imposed by this chapter. It
shall also be the duty of the Chief Financial Officer to keep a record
showing the date of such receipt. The Chief Financial Officer is authorized
to enter into agreements with the State of New Jersey to obtain information
to facilitate administration of the tax. The Chief Financial Officer
is authorized to issue a ruling upon written request of a taxpayer
or upon its own volition.
B. The Chief Financial Officer is hereby authorized to examine the books,
papers and records of any taxpayer to verify the accuracy of any declaration
or return, or if no declaration or return was filed, to ascertain
the tax due. Every taxpayer is hereby directed and required to give
to the Chief Financial Officer, or to any agent designated by him/her,
the means, facilities and opportunity for such examinations and investigations,
as are hereby authorized.
Taxpayers liable for the transfer tax are required to keep such
records as will enable the filing of true and accurate returns or
the tax and such records shall be preserved for a period of not less
than three years from the filing date or due date, whichever is later,
in order to enable the Chief Financial Officer or any agent designated
by him to verify the correctness of the declarations or returns filed.
If records are not available in the municipality to support the returns
which were filed or which should have been filed, the taxpayer will
be required to make them available to the Chief Financial Officer
either by producing them at a location in the municipality or by paying
for the expenses incurred by the Chief Financial Officer or his agent
in traveling to the place where the records are regularly kept.
All cannabis establishments operating in the municipality are
required to file a transfer tax return with the Chief Financial Officer
to report their sales during each calendar quarter and the amount
of tax in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Returns
shall be filed and payments of tax imposed for the preceding calendar
quarter shall be made on or before the last day of April, July, October,
and January, respectively. A taxpayer who has overpaid the transfer
tax, or who believes it is not liable for the tax, may file a written
request on an amended tax return with the Chief Financial Officer
for a refund or a credit of the tax. For amounts paid as a result
of a notice asserting or informing a taxpayer of an underpayment,
a written request for a refund shall be filed with the Chief Financial
Officer within two years of the date of the payment.
The returns filed by taxpayers, and the records and files of
the Chief Financial Officer respecting the administration of the transfer
tax, shall be considered confidential and privileged and neither the
municipality nor any employee or agent engaged in the administration
thereof or charged with the custody of any such records or files,
nor any former officer or employee, nor any person who may have secured
information therefrom, shall divulge, disclose, use for their own
personal advantage, or examine for any reason other than a reason
necessitated by the performance of official duties any information
obtained from the said records or files or from any examination or
inspection of the premises or property of any person. Neither the
Chief Financial Officer nor any employee engaged in such administration
or charged with the custody of any such records or files shall be
required to produce any of them for the inspection of any person or
for use in any action or proceeding except when the records or files
or the facts shown thereby are directly involved in an action or proceeding
under the provisions of the State Uniform Tax Procedure Law or of the tax law affected, or where the determination
of the action or proceeding will affect the validity or amount of
the claim of the municipality under the tax provisions of this chapter.
The Chief Financial Officer may initiate an audit by means of
an audit notice. If, as a result of an examination conducted by the
Chief Financial Officer, a return has not been filed by a taxpayer
or a return is found to be incorrect and transfer taxes are owed,
the Chief Financial Officer is authorized to assess and collect any
tax due. If no return has been filed and tax is found to be due, the
tax actually due may be assessed and collected with or without the
formality of obtaining a return from the taxpayer. Deficiency assessments
(i.e., where a taxpayer has filed a return but is found to owe additional
tax) shall include taxes for up to three years to the date when the
deficiency is assessed. Where no return was filed, there shall be
no limit to the period of assessment. Upon proposing an assessment,
the Chief Financial Officer shall send the taxpayer an interim notice
by certified mail, return receipt requested, which advises the taxpayer
of additional taxes that are due. Should the taxpayer wish to dispute
the assessment administratively by requesting a hearing with the Chief
Financial Officer, it must do so within 30 days of the date of such
interim notice. If, after the Chief Financial Officer sends an interim
notice, a taxpayer fails to timely request a hearing with the Chief
Financial Officer or requests a hearing and after conducting a hearing,
the Chief Financial Officer determines that the taxes are due, the
Chief Financial Officer shall send the taxpayer by certified mail,
return receipt requested, a final notice. Should the taxpayer wish
to dispute the assessment set forth in the final notice, he or she
must initiate an appeal in the New Jersey Tax Court within 90 days
after the mailing of any final notice regarding a decision, order,
finding, assessment, or action hereunder.
The following periods of limitations shall apply to suits for
collection of taxes. When a return has been filed but no tax paid,
any suit brought to recover the tax due and unpaid shall be filed
within two years after the return was due or filed, whichever is later.
Where no return was filed or a fraudulent return was filed, there
shall be no limits to file suit for the collection of taxes. Where,
before the expiration of the time prescribed in this section for the
filing a lawsuit against the taxpayer, both the Chief Financial Officer
and the taxpayer have consented, in writing, to its extension after
such time, the suit may be filed at any time prior to the expiration
of the period agreed upon. The period so agreed upon may be extended
by subsequent agreements, in writing, made before the expiration of
the period previously agreed upon.
Any person who receives an interim notice from the Chief Financial
Officer may, within 30 days after the date of an interim notice, request
a hearing with the Chief Financial Officer. Any person who fails to
request a Chief Financial Officer's hearing in a timely manner waives
the right to administratively contest any element of the assessment.
The Chief Financial Officer shall accept payments of disputed tax
amounts under protest pending appeals; however, any request for refund
of such monies must be filed in accordance with this section.
Any aggrieved taxpayer may, within 90 days after the mailing
of any final notice regarding a decision, order, finding, assessment,
or action hereunder, or publication of any rule, regulation or policy
of the Chief Financial Officer, appeal to the Tax Court pursuant to
the jurisdiction granted by N.J.S.A. 2B:13-2a(3), to review actions
or regulations of municipal officials by filing a complaint in accordance
with the New Jersey Court Rule 8:3-1. The appeal provided by this
section shall be the exclusive remedy available to any taxpayer for
review of a final decision of the Chief Financial Officer in respect
to a determination of liability for the tax imposed by this chapter.