Opinion ID: 1811441
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The tax ordinance closely tracks the form and substance of the state general sales and use tax.

Text: The Ordinance in question contains detailed reporting and record keeping requirements, including, among other things, that the retailer keep records of and report gross sales. These reporting and record keeping requirements applicable to Tobacco Tax II are strikingly similar to those applicable to the state general sales and use tax and the City of New Orleans general sales tax. See LSA-R.S. 47:309; New Orleans City Code § 56-53. Additionally, as discussed above, the measurement employed to calculate Tobacco Tax II is strikingly similar to that employed to calculate the state tobacco tax, which by its terms is a sales and use tax. In sum, while all four Reed criteria for determining whether the incidents, attributes and operational effects of a given tax are those of a sales and use tax are not precisely satisfied by Tobacco Tax II, these criteria are not exclusive, and the tax in operational effect has the essential characteristics of a sales, use or consumption tax.