(a) Report and Payment. – Contributions are payable to the Division when a report is due. A report is due on or before the last day of the month following the close of the calendar quarter in which the wages are paid. The Division must remit the contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. If the amount of the contributions shown to be due after all credits is less than five dollars ($5.00), no payment need be made.

(b) Overpayment. – If an employer remits an amount in excess of the amount of contributions due, including any applicable penalty and interest, the excess amount remitted is considered an overpayment. The Division must refund an overpayment unless the amount of the overpayment is less than five dollars ($5.00). Overpayments of less than five dollars ($5.00) may be refunded only upon receipt of a written demand for the refund from the employer within the time allowed under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 96-10(e).

(c) Method of Payment. – An employer may pay contributions by electronic funds transfer. When an electronic funds transfer cannot be completed due to insufficient funds or the nonexistence of an account of the transferor, the Division may assess a penalty equal to ten percent (10%) of the amount of the transfer, subject to a minimum of one dollar ($1.00) and a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000). The Division may waive this penalty for good cause shown.

The Division may allow an employer to pay contributions by credit card. An employer that pays by credit card must include an amount equal to any fee charged by the Division for the use of the card. A payment of taxes that is made by credit card and is not honored by the card issuer does not relieve the employer of the obligation to pay the taxes.

An employer that does not pay by electronic funds transfer or by credit card must pay by check or cash. A check must be drawn on a United States bank and cash must be in currency of the United States.

(d) Form of Report. – An employer must complete the tax form prescribed by the Division. An employer or an agent of an employer that reports wages for at least 10 employees must file the portion of the “Employer’s Quarterly Tax and Wage Report” that contains the name, social security number, and gross wages of each employee in an electronic format prescribed by the Division. For failure of an employer to comply with this subsection, the Division must assess a penalty of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). For failure of an agent of an employer to comply with this subsection, the Division may deny the agent the right to report wages and file reports for that employer for a period of one year following the calendar quarter in which the agent filed the improper report. The Division may reduce or waive a penalty for good cause shown.

(e) Jeopardy Assessment. – The Secretary may immediately assess and collect a contribution the Secretary finds is due from an employer if the Secretary determines that collection of the tax is in jeopardy and immediate assessment and collection are necessary in order to protect the interest of the State and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

(f) Domestic Employer Exception. – The Division may authorize an employer of domestic service employees to file an annual report and to file that report by telephone. An annual report allowed under this subsection is due on or before the last day of the month following the close of the calendar year in which the wages are paid. A domestic service employer that files a report by telephone must contact either the tax auditor assigned to the employer’s account or the Division of Employment Security in Raleigh and report the required information to that auditor or to that section by the date the report is due. (2013-2, s. 3(b); 2013-224, ss. 18, 19; 2015-238, s. 2.4(c); 2018-94, s. 4(a).)