Alabama Administrative Code › Title 810 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE › Chapter 810-13-1 - PAYMENT OF TAXES THROUGH ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER › Section 810-13-1-.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms and
				phrases used in these rules shall have the meanings prescribed in this section,
				unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context in which the
				term or phrase is used.
(1) "ACH" or
			 "Automated Clearing House" means a regional facility which performs
			 inter-member (financial institutions) clearing of paperless entries between
			 such institutions. ACHs are generally operated by the Federal Reserve, but can
			 be operated privately, and use rules, procedures, and programs developed on a
			 local basis by their participating financial institutions under the general
			 direction of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).
ACHs are distribution and settlement points for the electronic
				clearing of debits and credits between financial institutions, rather than the
				physical movement of paper items.
(2) "ACH Credit" means the electronic funds
			 transfer payment method where transactions are initiated and generated by the
			 taxpayer, cleared through the ACH system for deposit to the State
			 Treasury.
(3) "ACH Debit" means the
			 electronic funds transfer payment method where transactions are generated by
			 the Department upon the taxpayer's instruction and cleared through the ACH
			 system for deposit to the State Treasury.
(4) "ACH Trace Number" means the unique
			 number assigned to an electronic payment transaction by the financial
			 institution originating the transaction.
(5) "Addenda record" means that information
			 required by the Department in an ACH Credit transaction or Fedwire transfer
			 which identifies the taxpayer, the tax type, the period covered, and the
			 payment amount. See the definition for TXP Banking Convention.
(6) "Calendar year" means a twelve month
			 period starting with the first day of January and ending with the last day of
			 December.
(7) "Call-in day" means
			 the day on which a taxpayer communicates payment information to the Data
			 Collection Center.
(8) "Call-in
			 period" means the specified time interval in each call-in day during which EFT
			 payment information received by the Data Collection Center is processed for
			 transactions occurring on the next business day. Payment information must be
			 communicated to the Data Collection Center prior to 3:45 p. m. (Central
			 Standard Time) on the call in day to clear the ACH for deposit in the State
			 Treasury on the next business day.
(9) "Collected funds" means those amounts
			 deposited in the bank which have been presented for payment and for which
			 payment has actually been received, those funds which have completed the
			 electronic funds transfer process and are available for immediate use by the
			 State Treasurer. See Immediately Available Funds.
(10) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of
			 the Alabama Department of Revenue.
(11) "Confidential taxpayer identification
			 number" means a confidential code assigned to each taxpayer which uniquely
			 identifies the taxpayer and allows the taxpayer to communicate payment
			 information to the Data Collection Center.
The taxpayer will be given a separate confidential taxpayer
				identification number for each tax type.
(12) "Data Collection Center" means the third
			 party vendor, who, under contract with the Department, collects and processes
			 EFT payment information received from taxpayers.
(13) "Department" means the Alabama
			 Department of Revenue.
(14) "Due
			 date" means the date on which a payment is required to be made by a taxpayer
			 under a revenue law of the State of Alabama.
(15) "Effective date of implementation" means
			 the date which the taxpayer is approved by the Department to pay a tax type
			 using EFT.
(16) "Electronic Funds
			 Transfer" or "EFT" means any transfer of funds, using the methods specified in
			 these rules, which are initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone
			 instrument, computer or magnetic tape so as to order, instruct, or authorize a
			 financial institution to debit or credit an account. EFT does not include
			 transactions originated by checks, drafts, or similar paper
			 instruments.
(17) "EFT Unit" means
			 the organizational unit within the Department which is primarily responsible
			 for coordinating with the taxpayer concerning the payment of taxes using
			 EFT.
(18) "Fedwire" - See
			 definition for wire transfer.
(19)
			 "Immediately available funds" means those amounts deposited in the bank which
			 have been presented for payment and for which payment has actually been
			 received, those funds which have completed the electronic funds transfer
			 process and are available for immediate use by the State Treasurer. See
			 Collected Funds.
(20) "NACHA" means
			 the National Automated Clearing House Association, the regulatory body for the
			 ACH Network.
(21) "Payment" means
			 the total amount paid in a transaction, or transactions, for the tax, penalty,
			 and interest liability for one tax type for a single required reporting
			 period.
(22) "Payment information"
			 means the data which the Department requires of a taxpayer making an EFT
			 payment and which must be communicated to the Data Collection Center, or be
			 provided in the TXP Banking Convention addenda record of an ACH Credit
			 transaction. See definition of TXP Banking Convention.
(23) "Return" means the form designated by
			 the Department as the required official form for reporting tax and other
			 information.
(24) "State's Bank or
			 Financial Institution" means a financial institution which will serve as a
			 receiving depository for electronic payments.
(25) "TXP Banking Convention" means the
			 format to be used in the free form field of the National Automated Clearing
			 House Association (NACHA) CCD+ entry addenda record. The TXP convention
			 provides a method of paying taxes electronically when the taxpayer chooses to
			 initiate an ACH Credit transaction, and the format is required by the
			 Department when a taxpayer elects to pay its taxes using the ACH Credit payment
			 option.
(26) "Taxpayer" means any
			 person required to remit an amount to the Department whether it is for a tax,
			 fee, license, or any other obligation. For the purpose of these rules, "person"
			 includes any individual, firm, partnership, general partnership, limited
			 partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, business
			 trust, receiver, syndicate, or other group or combination acting as a unit, and
			 includes the plural as well as the singular number.
(27) "Tax type" means a tax, fee, license or
			 other obligation which is subject to the EFT payment requirements, each of
			 which shall be considered a separate category of payment. The tax types for
			 which taxpayers may be subject to the EFT payment requirements of Act 91-570
			 are identified in Rule 810-13-1-04.
(28) "Threshold amount" means the amount of
			 which a payment made by a taxpayer for a tax type must equal or exceed for the
			 taxpayer to be required to use EFT when making payments for the tax type. The
			 threshold amount for the calendar year 1992 is $100,000; the threshold amount
			 for the calendar year 1993 is $50,000; the threshold amount for the calendar
			 year 1994 and all years thereafter is $25,000.
(29) "Treasury" or "State Treasury" means the
			 Treasury of the State of Alabama.
(30) "Verification code" means the code
			 provided to the Data Collection Center by the taxpayer in initiating an ACH
			 Debit transaction. Use of the verification code is a method of ensuring that
			 the communication of payment information was complete and correct. The
			 verification code uniquely identifies the completed communication of payment
			 information, and can be used in subsequent research of a transaction.
(31) "Wire transfer" or "Fedwire" means an
			 instantaneous electronic transfer of funds generated by the taxpayer through a
			 correspondent bank or the Federal Reserve System to the State Treasury. Fedwire
			 transfers are not a payment option. Fedwire transfers are used by taxpayers
			 only in the case of an emergency and only with prior authorization from the
			 Department.
Author:
Ed Cutter.
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
				  1975
, §§
										40-1-20 through
				  40-1-23.