County Tax Being Charged -- Shouldn't Be - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

The next time you make a purchase, it would be wise to check the receipt.

It has been brought to the attention of Ward County some small businesses may have begun charging the one-half cent tax nearly four months early.

The tax was approved by voters in the November sixth election but collections should not begin until April first of this year.

This information was given by a citizen at a city meeting last week.

January first through March thirty-first is the time allowed for businesses to prepare for the April start date.

The Ward County Treasures Office encourages any of the one-half cent sales tax which has been collected to be refunded.

(Devra Smestad, Auditor/Treasurer, Ward County) "If you are or have collected, do everything in your power to return that to the patrons that paid it. Otherwise when you submit the sales tax that has been collected to the state, it will just end up in the general fund. We cannot get that until after April 1st."

It is unknown which businesses are collecting the sales tax early.