2020 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 47. Motor Vehicles
§47-1142. Motor license agent accounts.
A. There is hereby created as an official depository of the Oklahoma Tax Commission a special agency account. The Tax Commission is hereby authorized and directed to assign an appropriate and distinctive number or designation for the account herein created which shall be designated the Oklahoma Tax Commission Motor License Agent Account. The Tax Commission shall assign an appropriate and distinctive subaccount number or designation for each motor license agent. Every motor license agent appointed under the provisions of the Oklahoma Vehicle License and Registration Act shall safeguard and preserve, in the manner herein required, all monies paid to such agent which the agent is bound to account for and pay over to the Tax Commission.
B. Each motor license agent shall establish, in a bank or banks authorized to do a banking business in the state, such special agency account and at any time that the motor license agent accumulates a total amount of receipts of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or more then such motor license agent shall deposit within a period of one (1) banking business day after the close of business, all receipts which the agent is obligated to account for and remit to the Tax Commission in the designated Oklahoma Tax Commission Motor License Agent Account and no such monies shall be deposited in any other banks or other depositories unless the said bank accounts are maintained by the Tax Commission. Provided that, where a motor license agent is doing business in a municipality where there is no bank located, such motor license agent shall have a period of three (3) banking business days after the close of business to make such deposits. Advice of deposit receipts or duplicate deposit receipts, in a form and in an amount prescribed by the Tax Commission, shall be obtained and preserved as directed by the Tax Commission. One shall be retained by the agent, and one shall be immediately forwarded to the Tax Commission. Withdrawals or transfers from such Oklahoma Tax Commission Motor License Agent Account shall be made only by the duly authorized agent of the Tax Commission. That part of the agent’s fees to be retained by the agent as the agent’s personal compensation shall not be deposited in said Oklahoma Tax Commission Motor License Agent Account.
Each motor license agent shall submit the appropriate reports designated by the Tax Commission to properly account for all funds, regardless of source, received by a motor license agent in the performance of the agent’s duties. Reports shall cover a period from the first day of the month to the fifteenth day of the month and from the sixteenth day of the month to the last day of the month. It shall be the responsibility of the motor license agent to mail or deliver such reports and all documents of all transactions to the Tax Commission within a time period to be established by the Tax Commission.
C. Motor license agents shall deposit in such account all monies, taxes and fees collected and received by them as such agents, which they are obligated to account for and remit to the Tax Commission, and it is specifically required that checks or similar instruments accepted or received by such agents for taxes or fees must be deposited in such account, less any amount provided by this act that the agents are entitled to retain as fees.
No motor license agent shall withdraw any funds from the agent’s motor license agent account. All checks, drafts, orders and vouchers so deposited shall bear an endorsement to the motor license agent account which endorsement shall include the assigned account number and the agent’s subaccount number. Items deposited shall be credited at par and should payment be refused on any such check, draft, order or voucher, or should the same prove otherwise worthless, the amount thereof shall not be charged by the Tax Commission against the individual subaccounts of the agent. The agent shall continue to attempt to require proper payment of all such worthless items, but shall not be personally liable to the Tax Commission for their payment. The Tax Commission or agent shall charge the person issuing the check a fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for each check to cover the costs of the processing of each returned check, and all necessary travel expenses of collection, as provided by the State Travel Reimbursement Act; provided, such charge shall not be made unless efforts have been made to present such check, draft, order or voucher for payment a second time. Any motor license agent who collects a dishonored check pursuant to the provisions of Section 1121 of this title shall also collect a fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) and shall be entitled to retain such fee.
D. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the Tax Commission shall continue to have the exclusive authority and standing to collect any taxes or other revenues owed to the State of Oklahoma or any political subdivision thereof pursuant to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle License and Registration Act.
E. It is specifically provided that nothing in this section shall be considered or construed as in any way affecting, relieving or relinquishing the liability of such agent to the Tax Commission for any monies collected by the agent and due the state or the liability of such agent or any surety on or under the agent’s bond made to the Tax Commission.
Unless provided otherwise, any motor license agent who fails to comply with any provision of this section shall pay a penalty to be imposed by the Tax Commission. Monies collected for payment of the penalty shall be deposited to the credit of the General Revenue Fund of the State Treasury. Any motor license agent who pays a penalty pursuant to this section shall not allocate his or her payment thereof as a part of his or her operating expenses, but shall use his or her personal funds for payment of the penalty. Such penalty shall be equal to one percent (1%) of the gross amount of the receipts received by the motor license agent for that particular day that the agent fails to deposit all such funds required by this section or one percent (1%) of the gross amount of the receipts received by the motor license agent for the report period that the agent fails to timely mail the required report or remit any excess agent funds as provided in subsection B of this section. Such penalty shall be increased to three percent (3%) of the gross amount of the receipts received for that particular day if the motor license agent fails to fulfill any of said requirements within a period of five (5) days. Provided that such penalty shall be three percent (3%) of the gross amount of the receipts received by the motor license agent for the report period that the agent fails to timely mail the required report or remit any excess agent funds as provided in subsection B of this section if the motor license agent fails to fulfill these requirements within five (5) days.
The Tax Commission may waive the penalty for failing to timely file the accounting report required by this section if the Tax Commission finds that:
1. The funds to which the report applies have been properly deposited;
2. The failure to timely file the report was due to emergency conditions beyond the control of the agent; and
3. The report has been filed within a week of the date on which it was required to be filed.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Commission to discharge immediately any motor license agent who fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the provisions of this section.
Added by Laws 1985, c. 179, § 45, operative July 1, 1985. Amended by Laws 1985, c. 197, § 6, operative July 1, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 223, § 28, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1988, c. 232, § 2, operative July 1, 1988; Laws 1989, c. 284, § 2, emerg. eff. May 22, 1989; Laws 2006, c. 295, § 6, eff. July 1, 2006; Laws 2007, c. 348, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2007.
