BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioner, :
v. : INFORMAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 88-0722
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, : Acct.
No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
is an appeal to the Utah State Tax Commission for reconsideration of a
Commission decision denying a request for a waiver of penalty and interest
assessments on Petitioner's XXXXX income tax return. Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. §63-46b-5(1)(b), no hearing was held. A review of Petitioner's file served as the
evidentiary basis for this decision.
Petitioner
filed a timely XXXXX personal income tax return showing a refund due the
Petitioner. Subsequent verification of
the refund by the Commission uncovered an error made by the Petitioner. Correction of the error on the return
resulted in tax owing by, rather than a refund due, the Petitioner.
FINDINGS
Utah
Code Ann. §59-10-527(1) authorizes the Commission to make "inquiries,
determinations, and assessments of all taxes (including interest, additional amounts,
additions to the tax, and assessable penalties)" in accordance with the
Utah Tax Code. Utah Code Ann.
§59-10-506 authorizes the Commission to prepare returns based on the
information given by taxpayers. Any
Commission-prepared return is received by the Commission as the return of the
taxpayer. Utah Code Ann.
§59-1-401(2)(a) provides that a penalty of the greater of $$$$$ or ten percent
of the tax due shall be assessed for failure to pay any tax as reported on the
filed return. Because the Petitioner
filed a refund return, which subsequently was determined to be a tax due
return, Petitioner's failure to remit the tax due with the return subjected him
to liability for a late payment penalty and interest. However, once it was brought to the attention of Petitioner that
the additional tax was due, he made substantial efforts to determine the amount
of tax due and promptly pay that amount.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing facts, it is the decision and order of the Commission that the
request for a waiver of penalty and interest be granted.
DATED
this 27 day of September, 1988.
BY ORDER OF THE STATE TAX COMMISSION OF UTAH.
FOR THE COMMISSION