A. Each collector shall compute on all refunds or credits and allow interest as part of the refund or credit as follows:

            (1) From date of payment of the taxes, but prior to submission by the taxpayer of a claim for refund, interest shall be computed at a rate of not less than two percent per annum.

            (2) From date of submission by the taxpayer of a claim for refund, or from payment under protest, or from the date that the taxpayer gave the political subdivision notice of the taxpayer’s intention to file suit for the recovery of any taxes paid, interest shall be at the average prime or reference rate as computed by the commissioner of financial institutions pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 13:4202(B), per year, but without the addition of one percentage point to the average prime or reference rate and without regard to the limitations contained in La. Rev. Stat. 13:4202(B).

            (3) The interest rate provided for in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection shall not be applicable for a sixty-day period from the date the taxpayer makes a claim for refund, if a refund is the result of the taxpayer’s administrative error; however, the interest for this sixty-day period shall be computed under the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.

            (4)(a) Beginning January 1, 2021, notwithstanding Paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this Subsection or any other provision of law to the contrary, on all refunds or credits the collector shall compute and allow as part of the refund or credit, interest from ninety days after the later of the due date of the return, the date that the taxpayer gave the political subdivision notice of the taxpayer’s intention to file suit for the recovery of any taxes paid, the filing date of the return or claim for refund on which the overpayment is claimed, or the date the tax was paid.

            (b)(i) Interest shall be at the average prime or reference rate as computed by the commissioner of financial institutions pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 13:4202(B), per year, but without the addition of one percentage point to the average prime or reference rate and without regard to the limitations contained in La. Rev. Stat. 13:4202(B).

            (ii) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for all taxes that become due on or after January 1, 2023, interest shall be computed at the same rate established for tax obligations pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:337.69(C).

            (c) An overpayment shall bear no interest if it is credited to the taxpayer’s account.

            (d) For purposes of this Section, a claim for refund shall be submitted in the form and with the documentation provided for by rules promulgated by the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board, pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 47:337.102(C)(2).

            B. No interest on refunds shall be allowed if it is determined that a taxpayer has deliberately overpaid a tax in order to derive the benefit of the interest allowed by this Section or if a taxpayer has not entered into an agreement to abide authorized by La. Rev. Stat. 47:337.63(D)(2) and the same principle of law is involved. Payments of interest authorized by this Section shall be made from funds derived from current collections of the tax to be refunded.

            C. As of the date a person files a petition for relief under the uniform bankruptcy laws of the United States as provided in Title 11 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., no interest shall be allowed to accrue as a part of any refund or credit which relates to a pre-petition tax period.

            D. The accrual of interest shall be suspended during any period of time that a delay in the issuance of a refund is attributable to the taxpayer’s failure to provide information or documentation required by statute or regulation.

            Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2020, No. 309, §1, eff. July 1, 2020; Acts 2022, No. 87, §1.