If you’re a new employer in North Carolina, you’ll need to become accustomed to frequent tax and wage filings. Your first stop should be the state’s Department of Revenue Withholding Tax Forms and Instructions database, which includes links to forms, brief descriptions, and electronic options of every form you might need to complete. This will provide the essential rundown of North Carolina business resources and employer forms. This will include what you may need to fill out the form, grouped helpfully by filing frequency, as well as how to complete each form.
While all North Carolina business owners will need to do some type of quarterly, monthly, or semiweekly withholding filing, there are a few outlier employer forms that serve extremely specific purposes. Below, we have briefly summarized the purpose of each resource and provided a few pieces of advice. As always, use the following links or the navigation to find our Payroll Software and 1099 Software.
NC-30
The NC-30 is the Income Tax Withholding Tables & Instructions for Employers. This is an important North Carolina business resource, as the provided information includes changes to withholding taxes, supplemental wages, payroll periods, and filing processes. This is also a great place to find most tax and wage related information for the state, such as who qualifies as an employer, who qualifies as employees, and how to withhold funds like pensions, annuities, and deferred compensation. When this updated form is released, be sure to bookmark it in your Internet browser for easy access.
NC-BR
This is the Business Registration Application for Income Tax Withholding, Sales and Use Tax, and Machinery and Equipment Tax. Every person involved in business that includes a retail or wholesale merchant aspect is liable for remittance of sales and use taxes and must therefore apply for and receive a Certificate of Registration. This is issued by the Department of Revenue and includes an account ID to be used on future forms. This one-time use form is, in essence, an application to get this ID number. The application requires information like your Federal Employer ID number, the list of responsible persons in your business (i.e. the President, Treasurer, Manager, &c), and information regarding the retail portion of your business. Employers can easily register online through the state’s Department of Revenue portal.
NC-BN
If you’ve decided to close your North Carolina business, you will need to complete the NC-BN, also known as the Out-of-Business Notification Form. This form takes just a few minutes to complete and requires your Account ID, Social Security Number (or FEIN number), personal information, and your business’s closure date. Business owners must also indicate which accounts are closed. If you run a seasonal business, you must complete this form and indicate the months in which the business is temporarily closed. Seasonal businesses need to file returns for the months the business is open, but filing out this form lets the state know you won’t be filing for certain months.
Software Support for North Carolina Employer Forms
If you have questions about any of the above North Carolina business resources and employer forms, we recommend giving the state’s Department of Revenue a call at 1-877-252-3052. For individual income tax refund inquiries, call the Department at 1-877-252-4052.