N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-9.6
No court of this State shall entertain a suit of any kind brought for the purpose of preventing the collection of any fee or tax imposed in this Chapter. Whenever a person shall have a valid defense to the enforcement of the collection of a fee or tax assessed or charged against him or his property, such person shall pay such fee or tax to the proper officer, and notify such officer in writing that he pays the same under protest. Such payment shall be without prejudice to any defense or rights he may have in the premises, and he may, at any time within 30 days after such payment, demand the same in writing from the Commissioner of Agriculture; and if the same shall not be refunded within 90 days thereafter, may sue such official in the courts of the State for the amount so demanded. Such suit must be brought in the Superior Court of Wake County, or in the county in which the taxpayer resides.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-9.6