BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX,
:
Petitioner, ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSION
OF LAW
v. ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
)
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal Nos. See Attachment
STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH, ) Acct. Nos. See Attachment
:
Respondent. )
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for an Formal Hearing on
February 23, XXXXX. XXXXX, Hearing
Officer, heard the matter for the Tax Commission. XXXXX appeared representing the various trusts.
Based
upon the evidence presented at the formal hearing the Utah State Tax Commission
enters its:
FINDINGS OF FACTS
1. The trust was created in XXXXX. The trustee, XXXXX was told by an attorney,
XXXXX that there was not tax due. The
attorney was referring to gift tax not income tax. The trustee, assuming that there was no tax due, thought that
referred to all taxes and did not file income tax returns for the trusts.
2. Trust monies were placed with XXXXX's Trust
Department. XXXXX then issued K-l Forms
which the Internal Revenue Service matched with the XXXXX return which
indicated that no returns had been filed for the trusts.
3. In late XXXXX and XXXXX, the Petitioners
prepared and filed returns for both the IRS and the Utah State Tax Commission.
4. The IRS waived all penalties associated with
the late filings.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Tax Commission may (emphasis added)
waive or reduce the civil penalties provided in the statute for failure to file
returns and pay income tax. Utah Code
Ann. § 59-14A-90(2)(6).
2. That the Tax Commission is obligated to
assess a penalty for failure to file an income tax return and pay the tax required
under this Act on or before the date prescribed. This penalty may be waived if it shown that it is reasonable
cause and not through willful neglect.
Utah Code Ann. § 59-14A-89(a).
3. If the Tax Commission waives or reduces the
penalty, it must make a record of its reason for doing so. Utah Code Ann. § 59-14A-92(6).
4. The trustee's unsophisticated understanding
of tax laws and misplaced reliance upon attorney's advise is not reasonable
cause that would justify the reduction or waiver of the penalties.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, it is the Decision and Order of the Utah State Tax
Commission that the request for waiver of penalty and interest of the
Petitioners is hereby denied.
DATED
this 20 day of March, 1987.
BY ORDER OF THE STATE TAX COMMISSION OF UTAH.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco G.
Blaine Davis
Commissioner Commissioner
NOTICE: It is hereby given that
you have 30 days from the date of mailing of this decision to appeal to the Tax
Court or the Supreme Court of the State of
Utah.
Appeal Nos. 86-0048 thru 86-0057
Attachment
Appeal No. Serial
No.
86-0048 XXXXX
86-0049 XXXXX
86-0050 XXXXX
86-0051 XXXXX
86-0052 XXXXX
86-0053 XXXXX
86-0054 XXXXX
86-0055 XXXXX
86-0056 XXXXX
86-0057 XXXXX