Retailers may not lawfully advertise an offer in the state to absorb sales and use taxes levied under the N.C. Sales and Use Tax Act.[287] Under the statute, a “retailer” includes anyone “[m]aking sales at retail, offering to make sales at retail, or soliciting sales at retail of tangible personal property, digital property, or services for storage, use or consumption” in North Carolina.[288] Retailers covered by the statutes may not “directly or indirectly” advertise that applicable state sales and use taxes are not part of the price that will be charged to consumers.[289] Any violation of these provisions by a retailer covered under the statutes is subject to criminal prosecution as a Class 1 misdemeanor.[290]
[287] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.9.
[288] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.3(35).
[289] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-164.9.
[290] Id.
