Businesses
911 Emergency Surcharge & Prepaid Wireless Tax
Service providers must register with the Department of Revenue to collect and remit this fee.
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Prepaid Wireless 911 Emergency Surcharge
911 Emergency Surcharge
Taxation of Telecommunications Companies
Filing Date
How Do I File and Pay My Returns Online?
Other Related Resources
Prepaid Wireless 911 Emergency Surcharge
All sellers of prepaid wireless services are responsible for collecting and remitting the Prepaid Wireless 911 Emergency Surcharge. The surcharge is 2% on the gross receipts from retail sales of all types of prepaid wireless services.
- Applies to sales of goods and services delivered to customers in South Dakota or sold to online customers with a South Dakota address.
- Includes prepaid wireless airtime cards and prepaid wireless minutes and plans.
- Surcharges itemized on the customer’s invoice are not subject to sales tax.
- If not itemized, the surcharge is subject to state and applicable municipal sales tax.
The surcharge applies to the entire price when prepaid wireless service is sold with other products for a single price. One of the following criteria must be met for the surcharge to apply only to the prepaid wireless service:
- The amount of the prepaid wireless service and surcharge is disclosed to the customer.
- The seller identifies the portion of the price that is for the prepaid wireless service in their records.
A provider can choose to not collect the 2% surcharge on a prepaid wireless device, such as a prepaid cell phone, that is bundled with prepaid wireless service of less than 10 minutes or $5.00.
911 Emergency Surcharge
All telecommunications service providers are responsible for collecting and remitting the 911 Emergency Surcharge. The surcharge is $2.00 per service user line per month. The surcharge increased to $2.00 per service user line effective July 1, 2024.
- The surcharge does not apply to prepaid wireless services.
- The surcharge cannot be charged on more than 100 service lines per customer account billed per month.
- Surcharges itemized on the customer’s invoice are not subject to sales tax.
- If not itemized, the surcharge is subject to state and applicable sales tax.
Multi-Station Network Systems
The service user lines will be equal to the number of calls that can simultaneously be made from such system to the public switched telephone network.
Taxation of Telecommunications Companies
Filing Date
Returns need to be filed by the 20th of each month following the reporting period regardless of amount due. Payments are due the 25th of each month. When a filing or payment due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the filing or payment is due the next business day. Penalties and interest apply to late returns or payments. Returns must be filed even if no amounts are due.
How Do I File and Pay My Returns Online?
Use the DOR online Filing & Tax Payment portal to file and pay online.