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 in connection with the business activities of the employer.

2. The tax imposed by this section:

(a) Does not apply to any person or other entity or any wages this State is prohibited from taxing under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States or the Nevada Constitution.

(b) 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 a return on a form prescribed by the Department; and

(b) Remit to the Department any tax due pursuant to this section for that calendar quarter.

4. In determining the amount of the tax due pursuant to this section, an employer is entitled to subtract from the amount calculated pursuant to subsection 1 a credit in an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of the commerce tax paid by the employer pursuant to chapter 363C of NRS for the preceding taxable year. The credit may only be used for any of the 4 calendar quarters immediately following the end of the taxable year for which the commerce tax was paid. The amount of credit used for a calendar quarter may not exceed the amount calculated pursuant to subsection 1 for that calendar quarter. Any unused credit may not be carried forward beyond the fourth calendar quarter immediately following the end of the taxable year for which the commerce tax was paid, and a taxpayer is not entitled to a refund of any unused credit.

5. An employer who makes a donation of money to a scholarship organization during the calendar quarter for which a return is filed pursuant to this section is entitled, in accordance with NRS 363A.139, to a credit equal to the amount authorized pursuant to NRS 363A.139 against any tax otherwise due pursuant to this section. As used in this subsection, “scholarship organization” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 388D.260.

(Added to NRS by 2003, 20th Special Session, 137; A 2005, 22nd Special Session, 136; 2015, 88, 2900; 2019, 3273)