For the purposes of this section, the term “contractor” includes any person or group or combination of persons acting as a unit; “subcontractor” includes a person or group or combination of persons acting as a unit, who undertakes to perform all or any part of work covered by the original contract entered into by the contractor, including the furnishing of any supplies, materials, equipment, or any other tangible personal property; “surety” means a bond or undertaking executed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state; and “surety company” means any person executing the surety.

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 57-40.2-14

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37

Whenever any contractor or subcontractor enters into any contract for the erection of buildings or the alteration, improvement, or repair of real property in this state and the contractor or subcontractor furnishes surety for the faithful performance of such contract, there is hereby imposed the additional obligation upon the surety company to the state of North Dakota that said contractor or subcontractor shall promptly pay all use taxes which may accrue to the state of North Dakota under this chapter. In the case of a contractor and the contractor’s surety company, this additional obligation shall include liability to pay to the commissioner on purchases made by either the contractor or the subcontractor all such use taxes which have not been paid to a retailer authorized or required to collect such taxes; and the contractor or the contractor’s surety company may recover from the subcontractor the amount of any use taxes accruing with respect to purchases made by the subcontractor which the contractor or the surety company may be required to pay to the commissioner, or to withhold from the amount due the subcontractor under the subcontract an amount equal to any use taxes accruing with respect to purchases of the subcontractor which have not been paid by the subcontractor to the commissioner or to a retailer authorized or required to collect such taxes. Such liability on the part of the surety company is limited to three percent of the amount of the contract price.

The surety company within sixty days after executing such surety shall send written notice of the same to the commissioner, which notice must give the names and addresses of the parties contracting with respect to the real property and the place where the contract is to be performed. After the completion of the contract and the acceptance of the improvement by the owner of the real property improved, the surety company shall give written notice of such completion and acceptance to the commissioner.

Six months after the completion of the contract and the acceptance of the improvement by the owner thereof, the additional obligation imposed upon the surety company ceases unless written notice, within such period of time, of unpaid use taxes, is given to the surety company by the commissioner.

This section does not modify or repeal any provision of chapter 48-01.2.