AGO 85-35.

CourtNorth Dakota
North Dakota Attorney General Opinions 1985. AGO 85-35. Office of the Attorney General State of North Dakota Opinion No. 85-35Date Issued: October 3, 1985Requested by: Kent Conrad North Dakota Tax Commissioner-QUESTIONS PRESENTED- Whether the sales tax of one percent imposed by the City of Grand Forks must be based upon the gross receipts from all sales regardless of the amount of tax collected by a retailer from a consumer under a bracket system adopted by the City.--ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION-- It is my opinion that the sales tax of one percent imposed by the City of Grand Forks must be based upon the gross receipts from all sales regardless of the amount of tax collected by a retailer from a consumer under a bracket system adopted by the City. --ANALYSIS-- Article 3 of the Grand Forks Home Rule Charter grants the City the authority to impose a one percent retail sales tax, subject to certain conditions. The Grand Forks City Council implemented this provision of the City's charter by enacting an ordinance which imposes a city sales tax. Grand Forks Ordinance No. 2607.1. With only a few exceptions, the City sales tax is drafted in language that is identical to that of the State's sales tax law. N.D.C.C. Ch. 57-39.2. In particular, the pertinent part of the imposition language of N.D.C.C. § 57-39.2-02.1 reads as follows:
. . . there is imposed a tax of four percent upon the gross receipts of retailers from all sales at retail. . . .
Likewise, the pertinent part of the imposition language of Section 2 of the City Ordinance reads as follows:
. . . there is imposed a tax of one percent (1%) upon the gross receipts of retailers from all sales at retail. . . .
Section 1(4) (7) (8) of the City Ordinance defines 'gross receipts', 'sale at retail', and 'retailer'. These definitions are adopted directly from N.D.C.C. § 57-39.2-01 (3) (7) (8).
It is a rule of statutory construction in North Dakota that when a law is adopted from another jurisdiction, the contemporaneous construction of its provisions by the courts of that...

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