(a) The department of revenue shall not enter into the streamlined sales and use tax agreement unless the agreement requires that as a condition of participation each state shall abide by the following requirements:
(i) Uniform state rate. The agreement shall set restrictions to achieve over time more uniform state rates through the following:
(A) Limiting the number of state rates;
(B) Limiting the application of maximums on the amount of state tax that is due on a transaction;
(C) Limiting the application of thresholds on the application of state tax.
(ii) Uniform standards. The agreement shall establish uniform standards for the following:
(A) The sourcing of transactions to taxing jurisdictions;
(B) The administration of exempt sales;
(C) The allowances a seller can take for bad debts;
(D) Sales and use tax returns and remittances.
(iii) Uniform definitions. The agreement shall require states to develop and adopt uniform definitions of sales and use tax terms. The definitions shall enable a state to preserve its ability to make policy choices not inconsistent with the uniform definitions;
(iv) Central registration. The agreement shall provide a central, electronic registration system that allows a seller to register to collect and remit sales and use taxes for all signatory states;
(v) No nexus attribution. The agreement shall provide that registration with the central registration system and the collection of sales and use taxes in the signatory states will not be used as a factor in determining whether the seller has nexus with a state for any tax;
(vi) Local sales and use taxes. The agreement shall provide for reduction of the burdens of complying with local sales and use taxes through the following:
(A) Restricting and eliminating variances between the state and local tax bases;
(B) Requiring states to administer any sales and use taxes levied by local jurisdictions within the state so that sellers collecting and remitting the taxes will not have to register or file returns with, remit funds to, or be subject to independent audits from local taxing jurisdictions;
(C) Restricting the frequency of changes in the local sales and use tax rates and setting effective dates for the application of local jurisdictional boundary changes to local sales and use taxes;
(D) Providing notice of changes in local sales and use tax rates and of changes in the boundaries of local taxing jurisdictions.
(vii) Monetary allowances. The agreement shall outline any monetary allowances that are to be provided by the states to sellers or certified service providers;
(viii) State compliance. The agreement shall require each state to certify compliance with the terms of the agreement prior to joining and to maintain compliance, under the laws of the member state, with all provisions of the agreement while a member;
(ix) Consumer privacy. The agreement shall require each state to adopt a uniform policy for certified service providers that protects the privacy of consumers and maintains the confidentiality of tax information;
(x) Advisory councils. The agreement shall provide for the appointment of an advisory council of private sector representatives and an advisory council of nonmember state representatives to consult with in the administration of the agreement.
The agreement authorized by this article is an accord among individual cooperating sovereigns in furtherance of their governmental functions. The agreement provides a mechanism among the member states to establish and maintain a cooperative, simplified system for the application and administration of sales and use taxes under the duly adopted law of each member state.
(a) The agreement authorized by this act shall bind and inure only to the benefit of this state and the other member states. No person, other than a member state, is an intended beneficiary of the agreement. Any benefit to a person other than a state is established by the law of this state and the other member states and not by the terms of the agreement.
(b) Consistent with subsection (a) of this section, no person shall have any cause of action or defense under the agreement or by virtue of this state's approval of the agreement. No person may challenge, in any action brought under any provision of law, any action or inaction by any department, agency or other instrumentality of this state, or any political subdivision of this state on the ground that the action or inaction is inconsistent with the agreement.
(c) No law of this state, or the application thereof, shall be declared invalid as to any person or circumstance on the ground that the provision or application is inconsistent with the agreement.
(a) A certified service provider shall be deemed the agent of a seller, with whom the certified service provider has contracted, for the collection and remittance of sales and use taxes. As the seller's agent, the certified service provider shall be liable for any sales and use tax due each member state on all sales transactions it processes for the seller except as set out in this section.
(b) A seller that contracts with a certified service provider shall not be liable to the state for sales or use tax due on any transaction processed by the certified service provider unless the seller misrepresented the type of items it sells or committed fraud. In the absence of probable cause to believe that the seller has committed fraud or made a material misrepresentation, the seller shall not be subject to any audit on the transaction processed by the certified service provider. A seller shall be subject to audit for any transaction not processed by the certified service provider. The member states acting jointly may perform a system check of the seller and review the seller's procedures to determine if the certified service provider's system is functioning properly and the extent to which the seller's transactions are being processed by the certified service provider.
(c) A person that provides a certified automated system is responsible for the proper functioning of that system and is liable to the state for underpayments of tax attributable to errors in the functioning of the certified automated system. A seller that uses a certified automated system shall remain responsible and is liable to the state for reporting and remitting tax.
(d) A seller that has a proprietary system for determining the amount of tax due on a transaction and has signed an agreement establishing a performance standard for that system is liable for the failure of the system to meet the performance standard.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any seller of tangible personal property, admissions or services which are subject to taxation under this chapter who does not have a physical presence in this state shall remit sales tax and follow all applicable procedures and requirements of this chapter as if the seller had a physical presence in this state once the seller meets the following requirements for the current calendar year or the immediately preceding calendar year:
(i) The seller's gross revenue from the sale of tangible personal property, admissions or services delivered into this state exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00);
(ii) Repealed by Laws 2024, ch. 67, § 2.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may bring an action in this state to obtain a declaratory judgment that the obligation of the seller to remit sales tax under subsection (a) of this section is applicable and valid under state and federal law.
(c) The filing of a declaratory judgment action under subsection (b) of this section operates as an injunction during the pendency of the action prohibiting the department or any other state entity from enforcing the obligation in subsection
(a) of this section against any seller who does not affirmatively consent or otherwise remit sales tax on a voluntary basis.
(d) If a court has entered a judgment against a seller or otherwise lifted or dissolved an injunction under this section, the department shall assess and apply the obligation under subsection (a) of this section from the date the judgment is entered or the injunction is lifted with respect to that seller.
(e) A seller complying with this section voluntarily or pursuant to an action brought under this section may seek a recovery of taxes, penalties or interest by following the procedures established in this chapter. No claim for a refund or recovery of taxes, penalties or interest shall be granted on the basis that the seller lacked a physical presence in this state and complied with this section voluntarily while under the protection of an injunction granted under this section. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the ability of a seller to obtain a refund or recovery of taxes, penalties or interest for any other reason including mistake of fact or a miscalculation of the applicable tax.
(f) No seller who remits sales tax voluntarily or otherwise under this section shall be liable to any person who claims that the sales tax has been over collected if any provision of this act is later deemed unlawful.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the obligation of any purchaser in this state to remit use tax for any applicable transaction.
(a) A marketplace facilitator shall be considered the vendor for each sale that the facilitator facilitates on its marketplace for a marketplace seller. Each marketplace facilitator shall:
(i) Be responsible for all obligations imposed under this chapter;
(ii) Keep records and information as may be required by the department to ensure proper collection and remittance of sales tax.
(b) Subject to the limitations in W.S. 39-15-501(a), a marketplace facilitator shall collect and remit sales tax on all sales:
(i) The marketplace facilitator makes on its own behalf; and
(ii) The marketplace facilitator facilitates on behalf of all marketplace sellers to customers in Wyoming. The marketplace facilitator shall collect and remit sales tax on sales facilitated by the marketplace facilitator and sold into Wyoming regardless of whether the marketplace seller has a sales tax permit or otherwise would have been required to collect sales tax if the sale had not been facilitated by the marketplace facilitator.
(c) If a marketplace facilitator fails to collect or remit sales tax under subsection (b) of this section due to incorrect or insufficient information provided by the marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator shall be relieved of liability for that failure to collect or remit the tax provided that the relief under this subsection shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the total sales tax due from sales made or facilitated in this state by the marketplace facilitator. If a marketplace facilitator is relieved of liability under this subsection, the marketplace seller or the purchaser shall be liable for any amount of uncollected, unpaid or unremitted tax due.
(d) No relief under subsection (c) of this section shall be authorized for sales made by a marketplace seller who is affiliated with the marketplace facilitator. Entities are affiliated under this subsection if:
(i) One (1) entity owns more than five percent (5%) of the other entity; or
(ii) Both entities are subject to the control of a common entity that owns more than five percent (5%) of each of the entities.
(e) The department shall solely audit the marketplace facilitator for sales made by marketplace sellers but facilitated by the marketplace facilitator. The department shall not audit marketplace sellers except to the extent the marketplace facilitator seeks relief under subsection (c) of this section.
(f) A class action shall not be maintained against a marketplace facilitator by or on behalf of purchasers arising from or in any way related to an overpayment of sales or use tax collected by the marketplace facilitator under this section, regardless of whether the action is characterized as a tax refund claim.
(g) As used in this section:
(i) "Marketplace" means any method through which a marketplace seller may sell or offer for sale tangible personal property, admissions or services which are subject to taxation under this chapter for delivery into this state regardless of whether the marketplace seller has a physical presence in this state;
(ii) "Marketplace facilitator" means any person that facilitates a sale for a marketplace seller through a marketplace by:
(A) Offering for sale by a marketplace seller, by any means, tangible personal property, admissions or services which are subject to taxation under this chapter for delivery into this state; and
(B) Directly, or indirectly through any agreement or arrangement with one (1) or more third parties, collecting payment from a purchaser and transmitting the payment to the marketplace seller, regardless of whether the person receives compensation or other consideration in exchange for facilitating the sale or providing any other service.
(iii) "Marketplace seller" means a vendor who sells or offers for sale tangible personal property, admissions or services which are subject to taxation under this chapter for delivery into this state through a marketplace that is owned, operated or controlled by a marketplace facilitator.
(a) As used in this article:
(i) "Population" of a city, town or county shall be determined by resort to the most recently completed federal decennial census as reported by the economic analysis division within the department of administration and information.
39-15-602. Local government distributions of state sales
and use taxes; supplemental funding formula; revenue challenged formula.
(a) An amount equal to eight percent (8%) of all sales taxes imposed under W.S. 39-15-104(a) and (b) and use taxes imposed under W.S. 39-16-104(a) and (b) that are collected and accrued for the immediately preceding fiscal year, as determined by the department of revenue, shall be transferred from the general fund to the office of state lands and investments for distribution to cities, towns and counties to be allocated as follows and as further provided in this section:
(i) Two-thirds (2/3) of eighty-nine percent (89%) of the total amount for direct distribution to cities and towns provided that five percent (5%) of the amount available under this paragraph shall only be distributed for direct distributions to cities and towns using the revenue challenged formula as provided in paragraph (b)(ii) of this section;
(ii) One-third (1/3) of eighty-nine percent (89%) of the total amount for direct distribution to counties;
(iii) Five and one-half percent (5.5%) of the total amount for direct distribution to cities and towns provided that five percent (5%) of the amount available under this paragraph shall only be distributed for direct distributions to cities and towns using the revenue challenged formula as provided in paragraph (b)(ii) of this section;
(iv) Five and one-half percent (5.5%) of the total amount for direct distribution to counties.
(b) Funds distributed in paragraphs (a)(i) and (iii) of this section shall be distributed to cities and towns each fiscal year. Distributions shall be made in equal amounts on October 15 and March 15 of each fiscal year as calculated from revenues collected and accrued in the immediately preceding fiscal year prior to the October 15 distribution, subject to the following:
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (ii) of this subsection, from these distributions each municipality with a population of thirty-five (35) or less shall first receive fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00) and each municipality with a population over thirty-five (35) shall first receive thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000.00). From the remainder, each municipality shall receive amounts in accordance with a municipal supplemental funding formula as provided in this paragraph. The municipal supplemental funding formula shall be calculated by the office of state lands and investments as follows:
(A) Calculate the per capita sales and use tax revenues available to each municipality using the sales and use tax distributions to the county where each municipality is located attributable to the most recently completed fiscal year, including distributions to each municipality within that county under W.S. 39-15-111 and 39-16-111 but excluding the distribution exclusively to counties under W.S. 39-15-111(b)(iii) made from an amount equivalent to one percent (1%) of the tax collected under W.S. 39-15-104 and excluding the distribution exclusively to counties under W.S. 39-16-111(b)(iii) made from an amount equivalent to one percent (1%) of the tax collected under W.S. 39-16-104;
(B) Calculate the inverse by dividing one (1) by the per capita sales and use tax numbers determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for each municipality;
(C) Calculate the normalized per capita sales and use tax number for each municipality by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph for the municipality by the total of all inverse per capita sales and use tax numbers calculated under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph;
(D) Multiply the normalized per capita sales and use tax number for each municipality by seventy-five percent (75%);
(E) Calculate the per capita assessed value for the prior tax year corresponding to the most recently completed calendar year for each municipality by dividing the total assessed valuation within the municipality by the population of the municipality;
(F) Calculate the inverse by dividing one (1) by the per capita assessed value determined under subparagraph (E) of this paragraph for each municipality;
(G) Calculate the normalized per capita assessed value number for each municipality by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (F) of this paragraph for the municipality by the total of all inverse per capita assessed value numbers calculated under subparagraph (F) of this paragraph;
(H) Multiply the normalized per capita assessed value number for each municipality by twenty-five percent (25%);
(J) Multiply the sum of subparagraphs (D) and
(H) of this paragraph for each municipality by the population of the municipality;
(K) Calculate the normalized index for each municipality by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (J) of this paragraph for the municipality by the sum of all numbers calculated under subparagraph (J) of this paragraph;
(M) Determine the amount to distribute to each municipality by multiplying the normalized index number determined under subparagraph (K) of this paragraph by the amount remaining available for distribution under this paragraph.
(ii) From the funds distributed in paragraphs (a)(i) and (iii) of this section, each city or town shall receive amounts in accordance with a city and town revenue challenged formula as provided in this paragraph. The revenue challenged formula shall be calculated by the office of state lands and investments as follows:
(A) Calculate the lowest quartile amount received by cities and towns on a per capita basis using amounts received under this section plus amounts distributed to each city and town using the sales and use tax distributions to the county where each municipality is located attributable to the most recently completed fiscal year under this paragraph, including distributions to each municipality within that county under W.S. 39-15-111 and 39-16-111 but excluding the distribution exclusively to counties under W.S. 39-15-111(b)(iii) made from an amount equivalent to one percent (1%) of the tax collected under W.S. 39-15-104 and excluding the distribution exclusively to counties under W.S. 39-16-111(b)(iii) made from an amount equivalent to one percent (1%) of the tax collected under W.S. 39-16-104;
(B) Determine each city or town that received a per capita amount that is less than the lowest quartile amount determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
(C) For each city or town that received a per capita amount that is less than the lowest quartile amount as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, determine the amount that would be necessary to increase the per capita amount distributed to that city or town to the lowest quartile amount determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
(D) Determine the amount to distribute to each city or town that received an amount that is less than the lowest quartile amount determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph by distributing the amount available under this paragraph on a pro rata basis, up to the lowest quartile amount, based on the amounts determined under subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(c) Funds distributed in paragraphs (a)(ii) and (iv) of this section are to be distributed to counties each fiscal year. Distributions shall be made in equal amounts on October 15 and March 15 of each fiscal year as calculated from revenues collected and accrued for the immediately preceding fiscal year prior to the October 15 distribution. From these distributions each county shall receive the following:
(i) Each county with an assessed value for the tax year prior to the most recently completed calendar year of less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) per mill shall first receive an amount equal to three (3) times the difference between three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) and the actual value of one (1) mill within the county. From the remainder, each county shall receive amounts in accordance with a county supplemental funding formula as provided in this paragraph. The county supplemental funding formula shall be calculated by the office of state lands and investments as follows:
(A) Calculate the per capita sales and use tax revenues available to each county using the sales and use tax distributions to each county attributable to the most recently completed fiscal year, excluding distributions to each municipality within that county under W.S. 39-15-111 and 39-16-111;
(B) Calculate the inverse by dividing one (1) by the per capita sales and use tax number determined under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for each county;
(C) Calculate the normalized per capita sales and use tax number for each county by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph for the county by the total of all inverse per capita sales and use tax numbers calculated under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph;
(D) Multiply the normalized per capita sales and use tax number determined under subparagraph (C) of this paragraph for each county by twenty-four percent (24%);
(E) Calculate the per capita assessed value for each county by dividing the total assessed valuation within the county for the tax year prior to the most recently completed calendar year by the population of the county;
(F) Calculate the inverse by dividing one (1) by the per capita assessed value determined under subparagraph (E) of this paragraph for each county;
(G) Calculate the normalized per capita assessed value number for each county by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (F) of this paragraph for the county by the total of all inverse per capita assessed value numbers calculated under subparagraph (F) of this paragraph;
(H) Multiply the normalized per capita assessed value number determined under subparagraph (G) of this paragraph for each county by seventy-six percent (76%);
(J) Calculate a cost of government index for each county, which shall be determined by multiplying six hundred twenty-eight (628) by the population of the county and then adding nine million nine hundred thousand (9,900,000) to the result;
(K) Calculate the normalized cost of government index number for each county by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (J) of this paragraph for the county by the total of all cost of government index numbers calculated under subparagraph (J) of this paragraph;
(M) Multiply the sum of subparagraphs (D) and
(H) of this paragraph by the normalized cost of government index number determined in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph for each county;
(N) Calculate the normalized index for each county by dividing the number determined under subparagraph (M) of this paragraph for the county by the total of all numbers calculated under subparagraph (M) of this paragraph;
(O) Determine the amount to distribute to each county by multiplying the normalized index number determined under subparagraph (N) of this paragraph by the amount remaining available for distribution under this paragraph.
(a) It is the intent of the legislature that the funds distributed under this article shall not be used for:
(i) Salary adjustments, additional personnel or increased personnel benefits;
(ii) Any compensation to the members of any board for which the board of county commissioners appoints members, unless compensation is otherwise required by law.