Payroll tax: Imposition, amount and payment; filing of return and report; deductions.
1. There is hereby imposed an excise tax on each employer at the rate of 2 percent of the wages, as defined in NRS 612.190, paid by the employer during a calendar quarter with respect to employment.
2. The tax imposed by this section must not be deducted, in whole or in part, from any wages of persons in the employment of the employer.
3. Each employer shall, on or before the last day of the month immediately following each calendar quarter for which the employer is required to pay a contribution pursuant to NRS 612.535:
(a) File with the Department:
(1) A return on a form prescribed by the Department; and
(2) A copy of any report required by the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation for determining the amount of the contribution required pursuant to NRS 612.535 for any wages paid by the employer during that calendar quarter; and
(b) Remit to the Department any tax due pursuant to this section for that calendar quarter.
4. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, an employer may deduct from the total amount of wages reported and upon which the excise tax is imposed pursuant to this section any amount authorized pursuant to this section that is paid by the employer for health insurance or a health benefit plan for its employees in the calendar quarter for which the tax is paid. The amounts for which the deduction is allowed include:
(a) For an employer providing a program of self-insurance for its employees, all amounts paid during the calendar quarter for claims, direct administrative services costs, including such services provided by the employer, and any premiums paid for individual or aggregate stop-loss insurance coverage. An employer is not authorized to deduct the costs of a program of self-insurance unless the program is a qualified employee welfare benefit plan pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq.
(b) The premiums for a policy of health insurance or reinsurance for a health benefit plan for its employees.
(c) Any amounts paid by an employer to a Taft-Hartley trust formed pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 186(c)(5) for participation in an employee welfare benefit plan.
(d) Such other similar payments for health care or insurance for health care for employees as are authorized by the Department.
5. An employer may not deduct from the wages upon which the excise tax is imposed pursuant to this section:
(a) Amounts paid for health care or premiums paid for insurance for an industrial injury or occupational disease for which coverage is required pursuant to chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, or 617 of NRS; or
(b) Any payments made by employees for health care or health insurance or amounts deducted from the wages of employees for such care or insurance.
6. An employer claiming the deduction allowed pursuant to subsection 4 shall submit with the return filed pursuant to subsection 3 proof of the amount paid in the calendar quarter that qualifies for the deduction. If the amount of the deduction exceeds the amount of reported wages, the excess amount may be carried forward to the following calendar quarter until the deduction is exhausted.
7. As used in this section, “employee welfare benefit plan” has the meaning ascribed to it in 29 U.S.C. § 1002.
Last modified: February 27, 2006