BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioners, )
v. ) INFORMAL DECISION
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE ) Appeal No. 87-0271
STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH, ) Acct. No. XXXXX
Respondent. )
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
An
Informal Hearing was held on XXXXX. James
E. Harward, Hearing Officer, heard the matter for the Utah State Tax
Commission. XXXXX, represented
Petitioner. Petitioners request waiver
of the penalty and interest assessed against the late filing of their XXXXX
individual income tax returns. XXXXX
testified that Petitioners were in XXXXX during most of XXXXX, on a mission for
their church. Petitioners were granted
an extension of time in which to file their XXXXX return and pay their taxes
until XXXXX. XXXXX indicated that
Petitioners requested an additional extension of time due to their being out of
the country. The request for an
additional extension of time was apparently not granted and upon Petitioners'
arrival in Utah on XXXXX, a return was prepared and the tax due was paid within
two weeks.
FINDINGS
The
Tax Commission is authorized to grant taxpayers an extension of time in which
to pay their tax liability. This
extension of time may exceed six months when taxpayers are outside the country. Utah Code Ann. 59-14A-68 (1953). When an extension
of time for payment of the tax has been granted but the tax is not paid in full
prior to the expiration of the extension period, interest will be collected on
the unpaid amount for the period between the date of the expiration of the
extension period until the date the unpaid amount is paid. Utah Code Ann.
59-14A-87(b) (Supp. 1986). The
Commission finds that Petitioners' second request for extension of time in
which to pay their XXXXX individual income tax liability should have been
granted by Respondent. Tax Commission
Rule A12-02-14A:68 indicates that "at the discretion of the tax
commission, the request may be denied for any reason, such as outstanding taxes
or an unsatisfactory record."
Although this rule does not limit the Tax Commission's discretion in
denying requests for extension of time for payment of taxes, it does indicate
that denial should be for reasons such as outstanding taxes or an
unsatisfactory record. Respondent has
made no indication whatsoever that Petitioners had less then an unblemished
payment record when they denied their request for additional extension of
time. Moreover, Utah Code Ann. 59-14A-68 (1953) approves granting an
extension exceeding six months when taxpayers are out of the country:
"Such extension may exceed six months in the cases of taxpayers who are
outside the states of the union and the XXXXX." Id.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing, it is the Decision and Order of the Utah State Tax Commission
that Respondent should have granted Petitioners an additional extension of time
in which to file their XXXXX individual income tax returns. The additional time should have extended
until Petitioners' return to the United States plus a reasonable time (for
example, thirty days) in which to prepare their return and pay their
taxes. Because Petitioners did file
their return and pay their taxes within a short time after their return to the
United States, that is, within the time that an extension should have been
granted, interest should be waived under Utah Code Ann. 59-14A-87 (Supp. 1986). Therefore, Respondent is ordered to adjust
its records to reflect a waiver of all penalty and interest assessed against
Petitioners' XXXXX individual income tax filing.
DATED
this 2 day of July, 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