BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX, )
:
Petitioner, )
:
v. ) INFORMAL DECISION
:
)
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 86 0354
STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH, ) Acct. No. XXXXX
:
Respondent. )
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
is an appeal to the Utah State Tax Commission from a decision of the Collection
Division of the Utah State Tax Commission (Respondent) to assess penalty and
interest on Sales and Use Account No. XXXXX.
An Informal Hearing was held on XXXXX, in the offices of the Utah State
Tax Commission. David J. Angerhofer, Hearing Officer, heard the matter for the
Commission. XXXXX represented the
Petitioner.
Petitioner
stated that the employee in charge of accounting and taxes left his employ in
XXXXX and that this person was not replaced until XXXXX due to low sales. During this absence all tax related
materials were put into a file for Petitioner's accountant, which accountant
only handled the year end closing for the business. The new employee who was later hired continued to put all tax
related materials (unopened) into the file for the accountant. When the accountant asked in XXXXX, for
information for the year end closing, the accountant found the returns and
notices and immediately took action to rectify the problem.
Petitioner
stated that the IRS reduced the penalty on Petitioner's federal taxes by 80 to
90 percent and introduced a letter from the IRS to this effect. Petitioner agrees to the assessment of
interest but requests a waiver of the penalty based on a good filing history
prior to and subsequent to the periods in question.
FINDINGS
Petitioner
was responsible for the quarterly filings of Sales and Use taxes pursuant to
Utah Code Ann. § 59-15-5 (1953).
Petitioner negligently put all tax related items in a file (unopened)
for almost 8 months rather than insure that the taxes would be timely
filed. Since the employee in charge of
accounting and taxes was not replaced until XXXXX, Petitioner should have
sought outside assistance with his taxes.
DECISION AND ORDER
It
is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax Commission that penalty and
interest on sales and use account No. XXXXX was properly assessed for the
first, second, and third quarter of XXXXX.
The
request for waiver of penalty on account No. XXXXX is hereby denied.
DATED
this 15 day of October, 1986.
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