17 NCAC 06C .0204. AMOUNTS WITHHELD ARE HELD IN TRUST FOR SECRETARY OF REVENUE

(a)  A withholding agent who fails to withhold or pay the amount required to be withheld is personally and individually liable for the tax.  If a withholding agent has failed to withhold or to pay over income tax withheld or required to have been withheld, the unpaid tax may be asserted against the responsible persons of the withholding agent when the taxes cannot be immediately collected from the withholding agent.  More than one person may be liable as a responsible person; however, the amount of the income tax withheld or required to have been withheld will be collected only once, whether from the withholding agent or one or more responsible persons.  The term "responsible person" includes the president, treasurer, or chief financial officer of a corporation, the manager of a limited liability company or partnership, an officer of a corporation, a member of a limited liability company, or a partner in a partnership who has a duty to deduct, account for, or pay the tax, or a partner who is liable for the debts and obligations of a partnership under G.S. 59-34 or G.S. 59-403.  Responsibility is a matter of status, duty, and authority, not knowledge.  It is not necessary that the failure to collect and pay the withholding amounts was willful; it is only necessary that the responsible person failed to pay the tax withheld or required to have been withheld to the Secretary of Revenue regardless of the person's reasons or knowledge of the failure.

(b)  When the Department of Revenue determines that collection of the tax from an employer is in jeopardy, the employer may be required to report and pay the tax at any time after payment of the wages.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 105‑163.8; 105-241.23; 105-242.2; 105‑262;

Eff. June 1, 1990;

Amended Eff. September 1, 2008; April 1, 2001; June 1, 1993; February 1, 1991.