Prepayment of tax; when due; Premium and Retaliatory Tax Suspense Fund; created; investment

Insurers transacting insurance in this state whose annual tax for the preceding taxable year was four thousand dollars or more shall make prepayments of the annual taxes imposed pursuant to Chapter 77, article 9, and related retaliatory taxes imposed pursuant to Chapter 44, article 1. Each insurer required to make prepayments shall remit such prepayments on or before April 15, June 15, and September 15 of the current taxable year. Remittance for such prepayments shall be accompanied by a prepayment form prescribed by the director. The amount of each such prepayment shall be at least one-fourth of either (1) the total tax paid for the immediately preceding taxable year or (2) eighty percent of the actual tax due for the current taxable year. The director, for good cause shown, may extend for not more than ten days the time for making a prepayment. The extension may be granted at any time if a request for such extension is filed with the director within or prior to the period for which the extension may be granted. Insurers who fail to pay any premium or retaliatory tax, including prepayments, when due shall pay interest at the rate prescribed by section 45-104.02 , as such rate may from time to time be adjusted, until such tax is paid. Any insurer who fails to make the prepayments within the prescribed time period or to obtain an extension shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in section 77-911 . The director shall immediately deposit one-half of the prepayments received in the Premium and Retaliatory Tax Suspense Fund, which fund is hereby created, and one-half of the prepayments received in the General Fund. Commencing with the premium and related retaliatory taxes for the taxable year ending December 31, 2001, and for each taxable year thereafter, the director shall determine the amount of the premium and related retaliatory taxes imposed by section 44-150 or 77-908 paid by insurers writing health insurance in this state, except as otherwise set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of section 77-912 , and such amount shall be credited to the Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool Distributive Fund. Except as provided in subsection (5) of section 44-4225 , on May 1 of each year the director shall transfer all of the interest earned in the Premium and Retaliatory Tax Suspense Fund on the immediately preceding year's prepayments to the General Fund and transfer the balance of the preceding year's prepayments deposited in the Premium and Retaliatory Tax Suspense Fund to the Insurance Tax Fund. Any money in the Premium and Retaliatory Tax Suspense Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.