BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX ) INFORMAL DECISION
v. :
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 87-0284
STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH, ) Acct. No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
An
Informal Hearing was held on XXXXX.
XXXXX represented himself. James
E. Harward, Hearing Officer, heard the matter for the Utah State Tax
Commission. Petitioner testified that
in XXXXX, he was in a serious financial predicament and realized that he might
not be able to file his tax return by XXXXX.
Petitioner said that he made a call to the Tax Commission to request
advice and that he (apparently) received ambiguous information. Petitioner subsequently made his $$$$$ tax
payment by XXXXX. Respondent assessed a
$$$$$ penalty. Utah Code Ann. 59-14-89
(Supp. 1986) provides in subsection (a) that if a taxpayer fails to file a
return and pay the tax required on or before the date prescribed, i.e.,
taxpayer files and pays late, there will be assessed the greater of $25.00 or 5
percent of the amount of tax due if the late filing is for less than one month. Subsection (b) provides that if any part of
any deficiency in tax is due to negligence or intentional disregard of the
rules and regulations, the greater of $50.00 or 5 percent of the total amount
of the deficiency shall be assessed.
Subsection (b) provides for a penalty if the taxpayer pays less than the
full amount due, and not if the taxpayer pays late. Therefore, the penalty assessed should have been $$$$$, or %%%%%
of the $$$$$ tax bill.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing, it is the Decision and Order of the Utah State Tax Commission
to deny the request of the Petitioner.
DATED
this 5 day of October, 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