1. (A) A government-owned telecommunications service provider shall pay or collect taxes each year in a manner equivalent to taxes paid by nongovernment-owned telecommunications service providers through payment of the following:

   1. (1) all state taxes, including corporate income taxes, under Section 12-6-530 and utility license taxes under Section 12-20-100;
   2. (2) all local taxes, including local business license taxes, under Section 58-9-2230, together with any franchise fees and other local taxes and fees, including impact, user, service, or permit fees, pole rental fees, and rights-of-way, franchise, consent, or administrative fees; and
   3. (3) all property taxes on otherwise exempt real and personal property that are directly used in the provision of telecommunication services.
2. (B) A government-owned telecommunications service provider shall be required to compute, collect, and remit taxes in the same manner as a nongovernment-owned telecommunications service provider and shall be entitled to the same deductions.
3. (C) A government-owned telecommunications service provider shall annually remit to the general fund of the government entity owning the telecommunications service provider an amount equivalent to any and all taxes or fees a private sector telecommunications provider would be required to pay.
4. (D) The taxpayer confidentiality provisions contained in Title 12 shall not apply to the filings of government-owned telecommunications service providers. Provided, however, the Department of Revenue shall require an annual report of all telecommunications providers. The report shall require any telecommunications company licensed in this State to report the total gross of retail telecommunications, to which the business license tax is applicable, pursuant to Section 58-9-2220. This information shall be available to any entity authorized to collect a tax on retail telecommunications or their agent. Information provided to an entity or agent authorized to collect a tax may not be disclosed or provided in any manner to any other person. Such information may only be used by an entity or agent of an entity authorized to collect a tax for purposes of determining the accuracy of tax returns, filings, and payment of taxes.

HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 360, Section 1A, eff July 1, 2002.