BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioner, :
v. : INFORMAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 88-1149
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 a penalty assessment on
Petitioners' XXXXX income tax return.
Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. §63-46b-5(1)(b), no hearing was held. A review of Petitioners' file served as the
evidentiary basis for this decision.
Petitioners
filed a timely XXXXX personal income tax return but failed to remit the full tax
due as reported on the return.
Petitioners were assessed a $$$$$ underpayment penalty and
interest. Petitioners assert that the
income tax instruction booklet contained no information regarding penalties and
that the retrospective enacting of Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401, dealing with
penalties and interest, was unfair since the information regarding the
penalties was not available to the Petitioners until after the filing due date.
FINDINGS
Utah
Code Ann. §59-14a-89(a) (supplement 1986) assessed a penalty equal to the
greater of $$$$$ or five percent of the amount of the tax for each month the
tax was delinquent, not to exceed a total of 25 percent for failure to file an
income tax return or pay the tax required by the due date. Using these penalty calculations, which were
indicated on page seven of the XXXXX instruction booklet, Petitioners' penalty
for the late payment of the tax due would be $$$$$. This penalty is calculated on the $$$$$ underpayment which was
delinquent for XXXXX months.
In
XXXXX the Legislature changed the calculation method of penalty
assessments. Utah Code Ann.
§59-1-401(2)(a) now provides that a penalty of the greater of $$$$$ or ten
percent of the tax due shall be assessed for failure to pay any tax as reported
on a filed return. Pursuant to Utah
Administrative Rule R-861-lOA-l(D), it is presumed that the parties dealing
with the Commission are familiar with the revenue laws of the state of Utah.
Petitioners' failure to remit the tax due with the filed report subjected them
to liability for the late payment penalty.
Because Petitioners feel they should be held accountable for only those
penalties of which they had notice, penalties as indicated in the XXXXX
instruction booklet should be applied.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing facts, it is the decision and order of the Commission that the
penalty assessed Petitioners' account be reduced to $$$$$.