EDITOR’S NOTE: Informer editor Andrew Perzo is on vacation and will return Jan. 1. Today’s column features questions and answers that first appeared earlier this year, in 2009 and in 2006.

Why are merchants allowed to charge taxes on full-price items when you use a manufacturer’s coupon instead of using a subtotal?

Because that’s what state law says they must do.

The term “sales price” applies to “the value of the manufacturer’s coupons that dealers accept from purchasers as part payment of the ‘sales price’ and that are redeemable by the dealers through manufacturers or their agents,” reads R.S. 47:301.

In other words, for coupons issued by manufacturers, the sales tax must be charged before a discount can be applied. If the coupon comes from the retailer, the tax must be charged afterward.

The likely reason: Manufacturers’ coupons earn retailers reimbursements — meaning stores ultimately receive full price for the items — so they’re treated as cash. Retailers’ own coupons garner no reimbursement, so the tax is applied differently.

• Online:www.legis.state.la.us

Who gets gratuity governs tax use

Is it legal for a dining establishment to add the gratuity to the bill before adding the tax?

It depends on who will ultimately receive the gratuity.

“Any gratuity, tip, or service charge added as a separate item to the customer’s bill as a requirement of the eating establishment is not subject to the sales tax if the full amount of the service charge is disbursed directly to the employees who customarily and regularly provide the service,” reads a state Revenue Department pamphlet on the tax.

“If any portion of the tip or gratuity is retained by the restaurant or lounge operator, then the entire amount of the gratuity becomes taxable.”

Tips freely left by customers aren’t subject to the sales tax.

Some labor costs susceptible to tax

Do you have to pay taxes on the labor part of a car repair bill? Somewhere I learned that you don’t have to pay tax on the labor.

Home repair contractors can’t charge state sales tax on the labor performed by their workers, but auto mechanics — who handle movable property — can apply the tax to their labor charges.

Louisiana law calls for charging state sales tax on four kinds of transactions — among them “the sale of services as defined in the statutes under R.S. 47:301(14),” reads “State Tax Statutes and Regulations,” a state Revenue Department publication.

R.S. 47:301(14)(g)(i)(aa) — which appears toward the middle of the statute — defines “sales of services,” in part, as “the furnishing of repairs to tangible personal property, including but not restricted to the repair and servicing of automobiles and other vehicles.”

• Online: http://rev.louisiana.gov.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.