Prepaid wireless 911 fees must be collected at the time of sale by the seller from the purchaser of the prepaid wireless service. A prepaid wireless service is a mobile wireless telecommunication service, which includes downloading digital products and content.
Prepaid wireless services must be paid in advance and is sold in predetermined units or dollars. As the predetermined units are used, the amount remaining available for use declines in a known amount. Examples include prepaid calling cards and minutes added to “pay-as-you-go” phones.
Prepaid wireless services are commonly sold by department stores, electronics stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, and other sellers. The prepaid wireless 911 fees are in lieu of the traditional 911 fee, which is collected on landline services and traditional wireless plans. (Telecommunication providers collect and remit the traditional 911 fees related to wireless and landline services.)
Sellers selling a bundled telecommunications service (phone and service) may choose to not charge the 911 fee when the portion applying to the prepaid wireless service is 10 minutes or less or has a value of $5 or less. If the minutes or dollars of the service are not disclosed separately, prepaid wireless telecommunication services bundled with other goods require the collection of the 911 fee on the entire selling price of the bundle.
The responsibility to pay the fee is on the consumer, but the seller is liable to remit all 911 fees collected from the consumer. The seller must itemize the 911 fee on the customer's receipt.
The prepaid wireless 911 fee rate is 2.5 percent.
Move to Digital
Starting January 1, 2023, the Office of State Tax Commissioner will no longer mail paper return forms for sales and use, lodging and restaurant, and prepaid wireless 911 fee tax returns. Moving forward, you can file and pay your tax return on our user-friendly, online portal, ND TAP.
Businesses who sell prepaid wireless services need a sales tax account and an account to report the prepaid wireless 911 fee with the Office of State Tax Commissioner.
If you are a new business without a North Dakota sales tax permit, you must complete a sales tax application available on ND TAP. On the application, select that you are selling prepaid wireless services.
If your business has an active North Dakota sales tax permit, send an email to taxregistration@nd.gov to request a prepaid wireless account. In the email, include:
- Start date for selling prepaid wireless services,
- Sales tax permit number for the account, and
- Address of the permit.
If your business operates multiple locations in North Dakota, you can request a consolidated prepaid wireless account. With a consolidated account, one account will be used to report prepaid wireless tax for all your locations. Send an email to taxregistration@nd.gov that includes each location address that sells prepaid wireless services.
The prepaid wireless 911 fee filing schedule matches your sales tax filing schedule. Prepaid wireless 911 fee returns are filed on ND TAP.
The seller that collects the prepaid wireless 911 fee is eligible for a 3% compensation discount (no maximum) on each timely filed and paid return.