North Carolina Information for Streamlined Sales Tax® Participants
North Carolina joined the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (“Agreement”) on October 1, 2005. This page contains information needed by taxpayers and developers who will be submitting returns, payments, reports, and other information as defined by the Streamlined Sales Tax® Governing Board, Inc. (“Governing Board”).
Questions about rate & boundary databases, simplified electronic returns, and initial approvals can be sent to edward.strickland@ncdor.gov and sheamus.garris@ncdor.gov.
A Certified Service ProviderTM (“CSP”) and a Certified Automated System (“CAS”) must comply with North Carolina law, the Agreement, and contracts with the Governing Board.
Tab/Accordion Items
Sellers can register for sales and use tax permits for multiple states all at once through the Streamlined Sales Tax® Registration System on the Governing Board's website.
Overview
- Model 1, 2, 3, and 4 sellers have the option of filing the SER or Form E-500, Sales and Use Tax Return.
- A CSP providing CSP services to a CSP-Compensated Seller must file monthly SERs to be eligible for the compensation allowed by the Agreement and CSP contract with the Governing Board. Failure to file a SER will result in no compensation from the state.
- North Carolina allows the SER to be filed for SST and non-SST Registrations.
Software Acceptance, Testing, and Approval
- Sellers, CSPs, and CAS must meet testing and certification requirements prior to filing SERs.
- Sellers that wish to file an SER must contact Ed Strickland or Sheamus Garris to obtain additional information about submitting SERs, payments, and using web services.
- CSPs and CAS providers that have been approved by the Governing Board must contact Ed Strickland or Sheamus Garris to obtain additional information about submitting SERs, payments, and using web services.
- SERs and payments must meet the SST Technology Standards as outlined on the Governing Board website.
- North Carolina does not use composite SER codes. The state tax and local tax are reported separately in the SER. The jurisdiction detail should include a breakdown of the local tax by county using FIPS (“Federal Information Processing Standards”) codes as found in the Rates and Boundaries Databases.
Testing Procedures and Acceptance Criteria
- Sellers, CSPs, and CAS Providers must submit test files to the Department to ensure compliance with SST Technology Standards.
Filing of the Simplified Electronic Return (SER)
- Contact edward.strickland@ncdor.gov and sheamus.garris@ncdor.gov for the web services description language (wsdl) file.
Filing & Payment Due Dates
- For details visit Filing and Payment Dates.
- Model 1 and 2 sellers are required to make payments electronically either by ACH Debit or ACH Credit. Payments must be initiated so that the amount due settles into the Department's bank account on or before the due date of the payment as required by the Department.
- Taxpayers that wish to pay electronically by ACH Debit may do so by using the SSTP XML Payment Schema when submitting the Streamlined Simplified Electronic Return or separately. Both require the use of web services to submit the XML Schema. Additional information about the Streamlined XML Schemas can be found on the Governing Board website by clicking on the SST Technology link under “For Businesses.”
- The ACH Credit method is also available but only with the permission of the Department. See State EFT Registration Requirements for more information.
- NC does not accept bulk payments.
State EFT Registration Requirements
- CSPs and all other sellers that wish to remit by ACH Credit should complete Form EFT-100C, ACH Credit Payment Method Authorization Agreement. The form may be faxed to the Electronic Payments Unit at (919) 733-3149 or mailed to:
- North Carolina Department of Revenue
Electronic Payments Unit
PO Box 25000
Raleigh, NC 27640
- North Carolina Department of Revenue
- Upon receipt of the list or Form EFT-100C, an ACH Credit Instructions and Guidelines Booklet and acknowledgement letter will be mailed to applicants.
- For more details visit Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
Refund Handling
Returns filed showing an overpayment will be reviewed to determine if a refund should be issued.
Simplified Electronic Return (SER) and Registration file Error Numbers and Messages
| Error Number | Business Rule | Error Message | Rejection Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 000001 | The transmission file is not well formed | Parser reports verbose error | Transmission |
| 000002 | The transmission does not validate | One or more documents failed the schema validation | Transmission |
| 000003 | File was empty | File was empty (contained 0 bytes) | Transmission |
| 000004 | Content Missing | Missing content-type value | Transmission |
| 000005 | The FIPS code must be valid to 'receiving state' | The FIPS code must equal '#' | Item |
| 000007 | Production/Test code does not match Transmitter profile | The Process Type <value> does not match the transmitter's profile process type <value> | Transmission |
| 000008 | The Transmission Header count element must equal the total number of SSTP documents in the transmission | The Transmission Header count element must equal the total number of SSTP documents in the transmission | Origin |
| 000011 | The SSTP ID on a New Registration is already in the database | Duplicate Registration: SSTP ID is already in the database | Item |
| 000012 | ETIN of the transmitter at Logon must equal the ETIN in the transmission header | The ETIN provided at system Logon did not match the transmission ETIN provided in the Transmission Header | Transmission |
| 000013 | Transmitter not valid for transmission type | Transmitter not valid for transmission type | Transmission |
| 000014 | The SSTP ID is not in the database. Taxpayers are required to register using the RegNew process prior to submitting any other file | SSTP ID is not valid | Item |
| 000015 | Duplicate transmission | This is a duplicate transmission | Transmission |
| 000016 | Filing Type in header must match schema(s) of document | Filing Type in header does not match schema(s) of document | Item |
| 000017 | The Acknowledgement Header count element must equal the total number of acknowledgements in the transmission | The Acknowledgement Header count element does not equal the total number of acknowledgements in the transmission | Transmission |
| 000020 | Payment Amount in Bulk Payment does not equal sum of TXPAmount elements in AddendaRecord for each taxpayer | Total Payment Amount in Bulk Payment does not equal sum of Payment Amount elements in Tax Payment for each taxpayer | Item |
| 000022 | Invalid Settlement Date | Data Parse Exception | Item |
| 371001 | Required field is missing or the value in a field is invalid | Field not present or invalid <field name> | Item |
| 371002 | Tax return with a future period end date cannot be accepted, if the current date less than the period begin date of the return | Returns for future periods cannot be submitted | Item |
| 371004 | Streamlined sales tax returns and payments cannot be accepted for periods prior to the date of implementation | Streamlined sales tax returns and payments cannot be accepted for periods prior to (month/year) | Item |
| 371005 | The SST ID and the account ID number must be for the same taxpayer in ITAS includes (SSN or FEIN) | SST ID and/or Account ID are incorrect | Item |
| 371007 | Taxable Sales must equal Total Sales minus Exemptions/Deductions | Taxable Sales must equal Total Sales minus Exemptions/Deductions | Item |
| 371008 | Taxpayer must be registered with a SST ID, model 1/2/3, if model 1 or 2 must have a CSP/CAS ID | Account does not qualify for the monetary allowance | Item |
| 371009 | New prepayments cannot be submitted with North Carolina returns | New prepayments cannot be submitted with North Carolina returns | Item |
| 371010 | Jurisdiction detail is required with the return if the sum of State Tax Due for In-State Sales, Sales Originating Out of State, Purchases for Use or Withdrawal from Inventory is NOT EQUAL to Total Tax Due | Jurisdiction detail of tax due is required | Item |
| 371011 | North Carolina does not accept Bulk Payment Transactions | North Carolina does not accept Bulk Payment Transactions | Item |
| 371012 | North Carolina does not accept Discounts on the SER return | Discounts are not allowed on North Carolina returns | Item |
| 371013 | Total Tax Due is not equal to the sum of the state sales tax due plus the total tax by jurisdiction | Item | |
| 371014 | North Carolina Department of Revenue does not accept test returns at this time | ||
| 371015 | Allowance greater than Total Tax Due | Item | |
| 371018 | North Carolina does not process Direct Deposit Refunds for SERs at this time |
Anticipated Timing of Acknowledgements
- Acknowledgements will be available for access within two business days.
- 99063 Durham County Public Transportation Tax
- 99119 Mecklenburg County Public Transportation Tax
- 99135 Orange County Public Transportation Tax
- 99183 Wake County Public Transportation Tax
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