Sec. 6. (a) The county council may levy a tax on every person engaged in the business of renting or furnishing, for periods of less than thirty (30) days, any room or rooms, lodgings, or accommodations in any commercial hotel, motel, inn, university memorial union, university residence hall, tourist camp, or tourist cabin located in a county described in section 1 of this chapter. The county treasurer shall allocate and distribute the tax revenues as provided in sections 7 and 9 of this chapter.

     (b) The tax may not exceed the rate of six percent (6%) on the gross retail income derived from lodging income only and shall be in addition to the state gross retail tax imposed under IC 6-2.5.

     (c) The tax does not apply to gross retail income received in a transaction in which:

(1) a student rents lodgings in a university residence hall while that student participates in a course of study for which the student receives college credit from a state university located in the county; or

(2) a person rents a room, lodging, or accommodations for a period of thirty (30) days or more.

     (d) The county fiscal body may adopt an ordinance to require that the tax shall be paid monthly to the county treasurer. If such an ordinance is adopted, the tax shall be paid to the county treasurer not more than twenty (20) days after the end of the month the tax is collected. If such an ordinance is not adopted, the tax shall be imposed, paid, and collected in exactly the same manner as the state gross retail tax is imposed, paid, and collected under IC 6-2.5.

     (e) All of the provisions of IC 6-2.5 relating to rights, duties, liabilities, procedures, penalties, definitions, exemptions, and administration shall be applicable to the imposition and administration of the tax imposed by this section, except to the extent those provisions are in conflict or inconsistent with the specific provisions of this chapter or the requirements of the county treasurer. If the tax is paid to the department of state revenue, the return to be filed for the payment of the tax under this section may be either a separate return or may be combined with the return filed for the payment of the state gross retail tax as the department of state revenue may, by rule, determine.

     (f) If the tax is paid to the department of state revenue, the amounts received from the tax imposed under this section shall be paid quarterly by the treasurer of state to the county treasurer upon warrants issued by the auditor of state.

As added by Acts 1978, P.L.50, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1979, P.L.82, SEC.7; P.L.97-1983, SEC.4; P.L.74-1986, SEC.4; P.L.108-1987, SEC.8; P.L.85-1993, SEC.3; P.L.67-1997, SEC.8; P.L.214-2005, SEC.26; P.L.175-2018, SEC.7.