AI-assisted research summary: Employers that withhold tax must file returns and pay the withheld tax to the Department of Revenue on the required schedule, with faster monthly payment required when withheld amounts exceed $1,000 in a month.
(a) Every employer required to deduct and withhold tax under Section 40-18-71 shall for each quarterly period, on or before the last day of the month following the close of each quarterly period, file a return and pay to the Department of Revenue the tax required to be withheld under Section 40-18-71. Where the aggregate amount required to be deducted and withheld by any employer for either the first or second month of a calendar quarter exceeds $1,000 the employer shall by the fifteenth day of the succeeding month file a return and pay the aggregate amount to the Department of Revenue. The amount paid shall be allowed as a credit against the liability shown on the employer’s quarterly withholding return required by this section. Any employer required under this section to make monthly payments of the aggregate amount required to be deducted and withheld that does not file a return and pay the aggregate amount by the prescribed date shall be subject to the same penalties provided in Section 40-2A-11. (b) If the department, in any case, has reason to believe that the collection of the tax provided for in Section 40-18-71 is in jeopardy, it may require the employer to file a return and pay the tax at any time. (c) Every employer, who fails to withhold or pay to the department any sums required by this chapter to be withheld and paid, shall be personally and individually liable therefor to the State of Alabama, and any sum or sums withheld in accordance with the provisions of Section 40-18-71 shall be deemed to be held in trust for the state. (d) In the event an employer fails to withhold or pay to the department any amount required to be withheld under Section 40-18-71, that amount may be assessed against the employer in the same manner as is prescribed for the assessment of income tax under the provisions of Section 40-18-40. The employer may appeal from the final assessment in the same manner as is prescribed by law for appeals by the taxpayer. When no appeal is taken by the employer, execution may be issued upon the final assessment in the same manner as is provided by law for the issuance of an execution by the Department of Revenue. (e) The state shall have a lien upon all the property of any employer who fails to withhold or pay to the department sums required to be withheld under Section 40-18-71. If the employer withholds but fails to pay the amounts withheld to the department, the lien shall accrue as of the date the amounts withheld were required to be paid to the department. If the employer fails to withhold, the lien shall accrue at the time the liability of the employer becomes fixed.