GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	2 

SENATE BILL 158
Second Edition Engrossed 3/10/93

Short Title:  Inheritance Tax Penalty Procedure.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Kerr, Plexico, Seymour, and Winner of Buncombe.
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Referred to:  Finance.
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February 15,1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO FILE AN INHERITANCE TAX RETURN WILL BE ASSESSED AND COLLECTED IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO PAY INHERITANCE TAXES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 105-23 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105-23. Personal representative to file return.
(a)	Return Required. – Every personal representative of a decedent who dies intestate shall prepare a return showing as far as can be ascertained the names of all the heirs-at-large and their relationship to the decedent.  Every personal representative of a decedent who dies testate shall prepare a return, accompanied by a copy of the will, showing the relationship to the decedent of all legatees, distributees, and devisees named in the will, and the age at the time of the death of the decedent of all legatees, distributees, devisees, to whom property is bequeathed or devised for life or for a term of years, and the names of those, if any, who have died before the decedent.  Each return shall include the post-office address of the personal representative.  The return shall also contain a complete inventory of all the real property of the decedent located in and outside the State, and of all personal property, wherever situate, of the estate, and of all insurance policies upon the life of the decedent, together with an appraisal under oath or affirmation of the value of each class of property embraced in the inventory, and the value of the whole, together with any deductions permitted by law, so far as they may be ascertained at the time of filing the return; and also the full statement of all gifts or advancements made by deed, grant, or sale to any person or corporation, in trust or otherwise, within three years prior to the death of the decedent. This return shall be filed with the Secretary of Revenue at Raleigh, North Carolina, within nine months after the qualification of the personal representative upon blank forms to be prepared by the Secretary of Revenue.  A personal representative who fails or refuses to comply with any of the requirements of this section, shall be personally liable for a penalty of five hundred dollars ($500.00).  This penalty does not apply, however, if no tax is due on the estate under this Article.  The Secretary of Revenue, for good cause shown, may remit all or any portion of the penalty imposed under this section.  Every personal representative may make a tentative settlement of the inheritance tax with the Secretary of Revenue, based on the inventory supported by oath or affirmation provided in this section.  If any personal representative or other fiduciary within or without this State holding or having control of any funds, property, trust or estate, the transfer of which becomes taxable under the provisions of this Article, fails to file the return required by this section within the time required by this section, the Secretary of Revenue shall obtain the required information from the best sources available and, based on this information, shall assess the tax due and any applicable penalties.
(b)	Exception. – An inheritance tax return is not required to be  filed for an estate that meets all of the following conditions:
(1)	Its beneficiaries are all either Class A beneficiaries, as described in G.S. 105-4(a), or the surviving spouse.
(2)	Its gross value, including the value of transfers over which the decedent retained an interest and the value of gifts made within three years before the decedent's death, as provided in G.S. 105-2(a)(3), is less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
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Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective for estates of decedents dying on or after July 1, 1993.