(a)        Requirement and Application. – Before a person may engage in business as a retailer or a wholesale merchant or when a facilitator is liable for tax under this Article, the person must obtain a certificate of registration. To obtain a certificate of registration, a person must register with the Department. A person who has more than one business is required to obtain only one certificate of registration for each legal entity to cover all operations of each business throughout the State. An application for registration must be signed as follows:

(1)        By the owner, if the owner is an individual.

(2)        By a manager, member, or company official, if the owner is a limited liability company.

(2a)      By a manager, member, or partner, if the owner is a partnership.

(3)        By an executive officer or some other person specifically authorized by the corporation to sign the application, if the owner is a corporation. If the application is signed by a person authorized to do so by the corporation, written evidence of the person’s authority must be attached to the application.

(b)        Issuance. – A certificate of registration is not assignable and is valid only for the person in whose name it is issued. A copy of the certificate of registration must be displayed at each place of business.

(c)        Term. – A certificate of registration is valid unless it is revoked for failure to comply with the provisions of this Article or becomes void. A certificate issued to a person who makes taxable sales or a person liable for tax under this Article becomes void if, for a period of 18 months, the person files no returns or files returns showing no sales. A certificate of registration issued to a seller that contracts with a certified service provider pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.42I and that is a model one seller as defined in the Streamlined Agreement does not become void if the certified service provider files returns for the seller showing no sales for a period for which a certificate could become void under this subsection.

(d)       Revocation. – The failure of a wholesale merchant or retailer to comply with this Article or N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-401.18 or the failure of a facilitator to comply with this Article is grounds for revocation of the person’s certificate of registration. Before the Secretary revokes a person’s certificate of registration, the Secretary must notify the person that the Secretary proposes to revoke the certificate of registration and that the proposed revocation will become final unless the person objects to the proposed revocation and files a request for a Departmental review within the time set in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-241.11 for requesting a Departmental review of a proposed assessment. The notice must be sent in accordance with the methods authorized in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-241.20 The procedures in Article 9 of this Chapter for review of a proposed assessment apply to the review of a proposed revocation.

(e)        Definition. – For purposes of this section, the term “person” means a wholesale merchant, a retailer, or a facilitator. ?(1957, c. 1340, s. 5; 1973, c. 476, s. 193; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1084; 1991, c. 690, s. 5; 1993, c. 354, s. 17; c. 539, s. 705; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1999-333, s. 8; 2000-140, s. 67(b); 2007-491, s. 19; 2009-451, s. 27A.3(t); 2014-3, s. 14.9(b); 2015-6, s. 2.15; 2017-39, s. 8.)