(1) A tax is imposed on each vehicle dealer for the privilege of engaging in the business of selling taxable motor vehicles at retail in this state.
(2)(a) The privilege tax shall be computed at the rate of 0.5 percent of the retail sales price of the taxable motor vehicle. The tax may be rounded to the nearest whole cent.
(b) The privilege tax becomes due upon the sale at retail of a taxable motor vehicle that:
(A) Has never been registered in this state; or
(B) Has been registered only to a vehicle dealer for use as a demonstrator in the course of the vehicle dealer’s business.
(3)(a) A vehicle dealer may collect the amount of the privilege tax computed on the retail sales price of a taxable motor vehicle from the purchaser of the taxable motor vehicle.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the purchaser of a taxable motor vehicle from whom the privilege tax is collected is not considered a taxpayer for purposes of the privilege tax imposed under this section.