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For purposes of this chapter, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:

A. Repealed by Ord.20-15.

B. “Buyer” means and includes persons who acquire interest in real or personal property, or the right to use or occupy property, or who receive a service for consideration.

C. “City” means the city of Bethel.

D. “Coin-operated machine” means a slot machine, jukebox, merchandise vending machine, laundry and any other service dispensing machine or amusement device of any kind which requires the insertion of currency to make it operative.

E. “Consumer” means the person who, in the ordinary meaning of the term, takes title to, takes possession of, or rents property, or receives services for consideration.

F. “Engaging in business” means carrying on or causing to be carried on any activity with the purpose of direct or indirect economic benefit.

G. “Federally recognized Indian tribe” means an Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village or community that the Secretary of the Interior has acknowledged to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, Public Law 103-454, 25 USC 479a.

H. “Finance director” means the finance director of the city or the designee of the finance director, the city manager or the city council; the designee may be an employee of the city, an accountant or other person who is not an employee of the city, a certified public accounting firm or other type of firm.

I. “Goods,” “fixtures,” “investment securities,” “general intangibles,” “accounts,” “chattel paper,” “documents,” “instruments” and “money” and their singulars have the meanings given the terms by the Alaska Uniform Commercial Code, AS 45.01 et seq., as amended.

J. “Lease,” “leasing” or “rental,” regardless of whether a transaction is characterized as a lease or rental under generally accepted accounting principles, means a transfer of possession or control of tangible personal property or real estate of a fixed or indeterminate term for consideration; a lease or rental may include future option to purchase or extend. The provisions of 26 USC (Internal Revenue Code), AS 45.01 through AS 45.08, AS 45.12, AS 45.14 and AS 45.29 (Uniform Commercial Code) shall apply.

K. “Person” means an individual, partnership, cooperative, association, joint venture, corporation, estate trust, business, receiver, or any entity, group or combination acting as a unit.

L. “Political subdivision” means a local government created by the state of Alaska to help fulfill its obligations. Political subdivisions include counties, cities, towns, villages, and special districts such as school districts, water districts, park districts, and airport districts.

M. “Price” means the amount of money, or the fair market value of consideration other than money, that the buyer gives to the seller in exchange for the property, the right to use or occupy the property, or the rendering of services.

N. “Rental” means any transfer of the right to use or occupy property for consideration.

O. “Responsible individual” means any individual, including a group of individuals such as a board of directors, partnership, joint venture, corporation or other entity, who has the responsibility to, is required to, or has the authority to direct or cause another person to:

1. Collect the tax levied under this chapter;

2. Segregate funds in lieu of the direct collection of the tax under this chapter;

3. Remit over to the city taxes required to be collected under this chapter; or

4. Determine which creditors of the seller are to be paid; and may include, but is not limited to, such officers and employees of a seller as the chief executive officer, president, vice president for finance, controller, comptroller, treasurer, bookkeeper, majority shareholder, finance director, manager, partner, managing partner, chief fiscal or financial officer and accountant if they possess any of the authority, responsibility or duties described in this definition.

P. “Resale” means to sell again and is limited to items which are resold per se or are physically present in a final product which is sold and is subject to tax at the time of final sale. The item must be easily and readily identifiable in the final product.

Q. “Sale” or “retail sale” or “sale at retail” means every sale or rental of real property or sale or rental of personal property (whether tangible or intangible), every sale or exchange of services, including barter, credit, lease, installment and conditional sales, for any purpose other than resale when such resale is made in the regular course of business.

1. A “sale,” “retail sale,” or “sale at retail” includes, but is not limited to, the following transactions:

a. Selling property; or

b. Renting, leasing, or letting of real or personal property, accommodations, facilities, or services of any nature whatsoever; or

c. Storing for use or consumption any item or article of personal property; or

d. Rendering occupational or professional services of any nature whatsoever; or

e. Furnishing materials and rendering services in connection therewith to accomplish the installation, construction, repair or completion of a specific end product or project; or

f. Selling real estate comprising parcels of land and buildings or improvements thereto, either separately or conjunctively; or

g. Transfer of the product of a manufacture or construction process to the user of the product; or

h. Importing, or causing to be imported, property from outside the city for sale or for rent, storage, distribution, use or consumption within the city; or

i. Selling or furnishing, preparing and serving food or beverages, alcoholic or nonalcoholic, for consumption on or off the premises of the seller; or

j. Every use or play of a coin-operated machine; or

k. Transacting or engaging in any type of business not enumerated herein.

R. “Sales price” or “selling price” means the consideration paid by the buyer, whether money, credit, rights or other property or interest in property expressed in terms of money equal to fair market value of the consideration including delivery costs, taxes, or any other expenses whatsoever and without deduction on account of the cost of property sold, the cost of materials used, labor costs, discount, delivery costs or other expenses paid or accrued, and without any deduction on account of losses.

S. “Seller” means every person who, as principal or agent, makes a sales transaction to a buyer or consumer, every person renting goods, real or personal property and every person performing or providing services, for consideration. In the event that retail sales transactions are being conducted in the name of a corporation, partnership, cooperative, association, joint venture or other entity, the “seller” for purposes of responsibility and liability for the collection and remittance of sales tax shall include every director, officer and partner without exception.

T. “Selling price” or “sales price” means the consideration paid by the buyer, whether money, credit, rights or other property or interest in property expressed in terms of money equal to the fair market value of the consideration including delivery costs, taxes, or any other expenses whatsoever and without deduction on account of the cost of property sold, the cost of materials used, labor costs, discount, delivery costs or other expenses paid or accrued, and without any deduction on account of losses.

U. “Services” means and includes all services of every manner and description which are performed or furnished for compensation of any kind, except services rendered to an employer by an employee, including but not limited to:

1. Professional services;

2. Services in which a product or sale of property may be involved including personal property made to order;

3. The sale of transportation services;

4. Services rendered for compensation by any person who furnishes any services in the course of their business or occupation;

5. Services wherein labor and materials are used to accomplish a specified result;

6. Commissions earned during business conducted within the city; and

7. Any other services including advertising, maintenance, recreation, amusement and craftsmen’s services.

V. “Time of sale” for installment sales is the time at which the initial payment is made.

W. “Transaction” means any transfer of property or the right to use or occupy property, or the rendering of a service, for consideration.

X. “Wholesaler” means a merchant who sells goods, in the regular course of business, to retailers who sell to consumers, or sell goods in the regular course of business to dealers or other wholesalers, for the purpose of taxable resale in the city. To qualify as a wholesaler, a merchant must be regularly recognized as such, and known to the trade as such.

Y. “Wholesale sale” means a sale of goods by a merchant selling them in the regular course of business; or a sale of goods by a merchant selling them in the regular course of business at wholesale prices to dealers or other wholesalers for the purpose of taxable resale in the city. The term does not include a sale by a wholesaler to users or consumers when such sale is not for taxable resale in the city.

Z. “Z tape” means the report feature of a cash register which records the total transactions, such as sales by type, the number of customers and the number of items rung in for the period; the transactional total of the current day’s receipts. [Ord. 20-15 § 2, 2020; Ord. 18-15 § 2; Ord. 17-39 § 2.]