(a)Withholding Required. - An employer shall deduct and withhold from the wages of each employee the State income taxes payable by the employee on the wages. For each payroll period, the employer shall withhold from the employee's wages an amount that would approximate the employee's income tax liability under Article 4 of this Chapter if the employer withheld the same amount from the employee's wages for each similar payroll period in a calendar year. In calculating an employee's anticipated income tax liability, the employer shall allow for the additions that employee is required to make under Article 4 of this Chapter and the deductions, and credits to which the employee is entitled under Article 4 of this Chapter. The amount of State income taxes withheld by an employer is held in tru
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
(a) Withholding Required. - An employer shall deduct and withhold from the wages of each employee the State income taxes payable by the employee on the wages. For each payroll period, the employer shall withhold from the employee's wages an amount that would approximate the employee's income tax liability under Article 4 of this Chapter if the employer withheld the same amount from the employee's wages for each similar payroll period in a calendar year. In calculating an employee's anticipated income tax liability, the employer shall allow for the additions that employee is required to make under Article 4 of this Chapter and the deductions, and credits to which the employee is entitled under Article 4 of this Chapter. The amount of State income taxes withheld by an employer is held in trust for the Secretary.
(b) Withholding Tables. - The manner of withholding and the amount to be withheld shall be determined in accordance with tables and rules adopted by the Secretary. The withholding of wages pursuant to and in accordance with these tables shall be deemed as a matter of law to constitute compliance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Article. The Secretary shall promulgate tables for computing amounts to be withheld with respect to different rates of wages for different payroll periods applicable to the various combinations of allowances to which an employee may be entitled and taking into account the appropriate standard deduction. The tables may provide for the same amount to be withheld within reasonable salary brackets or ranges so designed as to result in the withholding during a year of approximately the amount of an employee's indicated income tax liability for that year.
The withholding allowances provided by these tables and rules shall, as nearly as possible, approximate the amount of the employee's indicated income tax liability for that year based upon all of the following factors:
(1) An income tax rate equal to the rate set in G.S. 105-153.7 plus one-tenth of one percent (0.1%).
(2) The additions the employee is required to make under Article 4 of this Chapter.
(3) The deductions and credits to which an employee is entitled under Article 4 of this Chapter.
(c) Withholding if No Payroll Period. - If wages are paid with respect to a period that is not a payroll period, the amount to be deducted and withheld shall be that applicable in the case of a miscellaneous payroll period containing a number of days, excluding Sundays and holidays, equal to the number of days in the period with respect to which such wages are paid. In any case in which wages are paid by an employer without regard to any payroll period or other period, the amount to be deducted and withheld shall be that applicable in the case of a miscellaneous payroll period containing a number of days equal to the number of days, excluding Sundays and holidays, which have elapsed since the date of the last payment of such wages by such employer during the calendar year, or the date of commencement of employment with such employer during such year, or January 1 of such year, whichever is the later.
(d) Estimated Withholding. - The Secretary may, by rule, authorize employers to estimate the wages to be paid to an employee during a calendar quarter, calculate the amount to be withheld for each period based on the estimated wages, and, upon payment of wages to the employee, adjust the withholding so that the amount actually withheld is the amount that would be required to be withheld if the employee's payroll period were quarterly.
(e) Alternatives to Tables. - If the Secretary determines that use of the withholding tables would be impractical, would impose an unreasonable burden on an employer, or would produce substantially incorrect results, the Secretary may authorize or require an employer to use some other method of determining the amounts to be withheld under this Article. The alternative method authorized by the Secretary must reasonably approximate the predicted income tax liability of the affected employees based upon the factors provided in subsection (b) of this section. In addition, with the agreement of the employer and employee, the Secretary may authorize an employer to use an alternative method that results in withholding of a greater amount than otherwise required under this section.
The Secretary's authorization of an alternative method is discretionary and may be cancelled at any time without advance notice if the Secretary finds that the method is being abused or is not resulting in the withholding of an amount reasonably approximating the predicted income tax liability of the affected employees. The Secretary shall give an employer written notice of any cancellation and the findings upon which the cancellation is based. The cancellation becomes effective upon the employer's receipt of this notice or on the third day after the notice was mailed to the employer, whichever occurs first. If the employer requests a hearing on the cancellation within 30 days after the cancellation, the Secretary shall grant a hearing. After a hearing, the Secretary's findings are conclusive. (1959, c. 1259, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 193; 1981, c. 13; 1989, c. 728, s. 1.41; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 945, s. 7; 1997-109, s. 2; 2014-3, s. 14.5(a); 2015-241, s. 32.16A(a).)
§ 105-163.2A. Pension payers must withhold taxes.
(a) Definitions. - The definitions provided in section 3405 of the Code apply in this section.
(b) Withholding Required. - A pension payer required to withhold federal taxes under section 3405 of the Code on a pension payment to a resident of this State must deduct and withhold from the payment the State income taxes payable on the payment. Liability for withholding and paying taxes under this section on a pension payment falls on the person who would be liable under section 3405 of the Code for withholding federal taxes on the payment.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this Article apply to a pension payer's pension payment to a resident of this State as if it were an employer's payment of wages to an employee. The pension payer must file a return, pay the withheld taxes, and report the amount withheld in the time and manner required under G.S. 105-163.6 and G.S. 105-163.7 as if the pension payment were wages. If a pension payer has more than one arrangement under which it may make pension payments to a resident of this State, each arrangement must be treated separately under this section.
(c) Amount. - In the case of a periodic payment, the pension payer must withhold the amount that would be required to be withheld under this Article if the payment were a payment of wages by an employer to an employee for the appropriate payroll period.
In the case of a nonperiodic distribution, the pension payer must withhold taxes equal to four percent (4%) of the nonperiodic distribution.
(d) Election of No Withholding. - The recipient may elect not to have taxes withheld under this section to the extent permitted by section 3405 of the Code. The election must be in the form required by the Secretary. In the case of periodic payments, the election remains in effect until revoked by the recipient. In the case of a nonperiodic distribution, the election applies on a distribution-by-distribution basis unless it meets conditions prescribed by the Secretary for it to apply to subsequent nonperiodic distributions by the pension payer.
A pension payer must notify each recipient of the right to elect not to have taxes withheld under this section. The notice must comply with the requirements of section 3405 of the Code and any additional requirements prescribed by the Secretary.
A recipient's election not to have taxes withheld under this section is void if the recipient fails to furnish the recipient's tax identification number to the pension payer, or the Secretary has notified the pension payer that the tax identification number furnished by the recipient is incorrect.
(e) Exemptions. - This section does not apply to the following pension payments:
(1) A pension payment that is wages under this Article.
(2) Any portion of a pension payment that meets both of the following conditions:
a. It is not a distribution or payment from an individual retirement plan as defined in section 7701 of the Code.
b. The pension payer reasonably believes it is not taxable to the recipient under Article 4 of this Chapter.
(3) A distribution described in section 404(k)(2) of the Code, relating to dividends on corporate securities.
(4) A pension payment that consists only of securities of the recipient's employer corporation plus cash not in excess of two hundred dollars ($200.00) in lieu of securities of the employer corporation. (1999-414, s. 3; 2000-126, s. 3; 2014-3, s. 14.6(a); 2015-259, s. 7.1(c).)
§ 105-163.2B. North Carolina State Lottery Commission must withhold taxes.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission, established by Chapter 18C of the General Statutes, must deduct and withhold State income taxes from the payment of winnings in an amount of six hundred dollars ($600.00) or more. The amount of taxes to be withheld is a percentage of the winnings. The percentage is the individual income tax rate in G.S. 105-153.7. The Commission must file a return, pay the withheld taxes, and report the amount withheld in the time and manner required under G.S. 105-163.6 and G.S. 105-163.7 as if the winnings were wages. The taxes the Commission withholds are held in trust for the Secretary. (2005-276, s. 31.1(bb); 2005-344, s. 10.2(a); 2006-259, s. 8(f); 2006-264, s. 91(b); 2013-316, s. 1.3(g); 2015-259, s. 7.1(d).)