Revenue created. Commissioner of revenue; appointment, qualification and term of office. Department of Revenue Created. nue, and to issue executions upon request of the commissioner or his deputies; and for other purposes. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia and it is hereby enacted by the auDepartment of thority of the same, That there shall be a Department of Revenue for the State of Georgia, and the executive or administrative officer of said department shall be known as commissioner of revenue; he shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of six years, and qualify by giving bond as herein prescribed. He shall have his office in the Capitol and be furnished with necessary clerical help and office supplies. Provided, said commissioner of revenue may be removed by the Governor at any time for inefficiency, incompetency, or failure to faithfully discharge the duties of the office; Provided, further, the commissioner of revenue may discharge any deputy for inefficiency or failure to faithfully discharge the duties of such deputy. Quarters and clerical help. Proviso as to removal for inefficiency, etc. Commissioner may discharge deputies. Authority of of revenue as Delinquent taxpayers; penalty. Delinquent after thirty days. Sec. 2. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said commissioner of revenue shall have authority to appoint not more than six deputies, no two of whom shall be appointed from the same congressional district or section of the State, whose duties shall be to look after the collection of delinquent taxes of every kind that may be due the State of Georgia, particularly to investigate and collect delinquent license taxes, special or occupation taxes, automobile tag taxes, chauffeurs' license taxes, gasoline sales taxes, and stamp taxes on cigars and cigarettes; it shall be the further duty of such deputies to check up estates subject to inheritance taxes and to report information with reference to said estates to such officers as may be charged with the administration of the inheritance tax laws of this State. All delinquent taxpayers shall be subject to a penalty of twenty per cent. for non-payment of said taxes. All special or occupation taxes shall be deemed delinquent after thirty days from the expiration of the quarter in which they are payable. None of the Department of Revenue Created. Ad valorem not affected. provisions of this Act shall apply to ad valorem taxes or Axes, etc., those required by law to be returned to the tax receiver and entered in the tax digest. Duty of tax co-operation with depart collectors as to ment of revedelinquency. nue in cases of As to commis and when not sion; amount paid. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of the tax collectors of this State to co-operate with the department of revenue in supplying information as to delinquents, and said department shall have access to all records of tax collectors of this State in putting into effect the operation of this Act, and that said tax collectors shall not be entitled to any commission whatever in the collection of delinquent taxes except where such collections are made directly by such tax collector, and then such commission shall not exceed that of ten per cent. now provided by law, and said tax collectors shall not then have right to relieve any delinquent of pen- Right of relief alty provided in this Act, but shall collect said penalty and remit same, less his commission of ten per cent. to said revenue department. Sec. 4. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioner of revenue shall receive as compensation a salary of four thousand dollars per annum, together with his travelling expenses when travelling on business of the State in connection with his department. The clerical help in his office shall receive such compensation as may be approved by the Governor; the deputies employed by said department of revenue shall each be paid salaries not to exceed two hundred dollars per month, in addition to their necessary expenses incurred while travelling in the discharge of the duties required of them, such expenses to be paid only upon a sworn itemized statement for such expenses made by said deputy and approved by the commissioner of revenue. Sec. 5. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That before entering upon the duties of their respective offices the commissioner of revenue shall furnish bond to the Governor in such sum as the Governor may to cease. salary and penses of comrevenue. travelling ex missioner of Compensation of clerical el, salaries of deputies, etc. Amount and condition of bond to be missioner of given by com revenue and each deputy commissioner. Reports and payments to bu made by commissioner of revenue and deputy com missioner. Penalty for failure to report and pay. Additional duties of commissioner of revenue, Oath of commissioner of revenue. Department of Revenue Created. require, not to exceed twenty thousand dollars, and each deputy shall likewise give bond conditioned for the faithful accounting for all moneys collected by him with security approved by the Governor, in a sum of not less than five thousand dollars, premiums on said bonds to be paid by the State. Sec. 6. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said deputy commissioners shall report to the commissioner of revenue at least every week in detail as to amount collected by each and the source from which the same has been collected, and pay over to the commissioner of revenue the amount shown in said report to have been collected; and it shall be the duty of the commissioner of revenue to report all such collections to the Treasurer of the State once each week, and to pay into the State Treasury at such times all amounts that have been paid over to him by his deputies, except automobile tag taxes and chauffeurs' license taxes, which shall be paid to the Secretary of State. The failure on the part of said commissioner to so account for the funds paid to him by the deputies, or the failure on the part of any deputy to promptly report and pay over to the commissioner any moneys collected by him, shall be a breach of their respective bonds, and in the discretion of the Governor, terminate the term of said commissioner or deputy. Sec. 7. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in addition to the duties already prescribed for the commissioner of revenue in this bill, he shall discharge such duties as may, from time to time, be required of him by law. Sec. 8. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said commissioner shall be required to take and subscribe before the Governor an oath to faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office, which oath shall be in addition to the oath required of all civil officers. Department of Revenue Created. as Sec. 9. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the salary of the commissioner of revenue shall be provided for in the general appropriations bill, and a fund for the payment of salaries of deputies and clerks, well as the expenses of the office and field forces, shall be provided in the general appropriations bill. The commissioner of revenue shall make requisition on the Governor, accompanied by detailed statement covering salaries and expenses for each month, and the Governor, upon approval of such requisition, shall issue his warrant upon said fund for the amount so approved; provided, that until this can be done at the next regular session of the legislature, the compensation and expenses of the commissioner, and of the office force and the field force, shall be payable out of the twenty-five per cent. penalty imposed upon delinquent taxpayers by Section 2 of this Act, and should the penalties amount to more than the salaries and expenses of the department, the amount in excess thereof shall be paid into the State Treasury at the end of each quarter. Sec. 10. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall be the duty of the commissioner of revenue to direct prosecutions instituted against any person or > corporation subject to payment of any special taxes who may refuse to pay said taxes upon demand of a deputy, and to require the tax collector in the county of the residence of such delinquent taxpayer to issue execution for the amount of the taxes shown to be due. Relief of de limit. Sec. 11. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the passage of this Act, and the same is linquents; time in operation, should any individual, who is delinquent in any of the taxes heretofore prescribed, voluntarily remit the amount of delinquency to the office of the department, within thirty days, he may be relieved of the penalty prescribed. This, however, not to be effective beyond thirty days from date that office of department is in actual operation. State Text-Book Commission Created. Annual reports of collections and expend itures to Gen eral Assembly. Conflicting laws repealed. Sec. 12. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the department of revenue shall be required to keep accurate accounts of all collections and expenditures, and shall submit a detailed report of same up to June the first of each year to the General Assembly of Georgia, at its regular sessions. Sec. 13. Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act be and the same are hereby repealed. Approved December 14, 1923. Duty of State Board of Edu cation to act as State Text Book Commission in adoption of school books and the establishment of exchange rates. Proviso as to amount of exchange rate. STATE TEXT-BOOK COMMISSION CREATED. No. 3. An Act to provide a method by which school books may be furnished free, or rented, to the children of Georgia under a local option plan, by counties, cities, local school systems and separate school districts; to provide a time and method by which school books shall be adopted; to provide a method of distribution at definite prices; to repeal conflicting laws; to provide for exchange price of all books, and for other purposes. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia, That within sixty days after the passage of this Act it shall be the duty of the State Board of Education, acting as the State Text-Book Commission, to adopt a series of school books for the schools of the State according to the laws now governing the adoption of school books; Provided, that the said text-book commission shall not be limited or restrained by, or restricted to the fifty per cent. exchange rate for old books as provided in the Act of 1903, known as the State Uniformity Act, but the said State TextBook Commission is hereby authorized and directed to obtain the best exchange rate for old books possible, Provided, That the exchange rate or allowance for the old books shall |