BEFORE THE STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioner, :
v. : INFORMAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION DIVISION
OF THE : Appeal No. 88-1267
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 waiver of penalty and interest
assessments on Petitioners' XXXXX personal 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,
XXXXX, filed an untimely personal income tax return for XXXXX and were assessed
interest charges and a 25% late filing penalty. Petitioners assert that the return was filed late due to an error
on their W-2 form. The error was
discovered before filing and the W-2 was returned to the employer for
correction. However, a corrected copy
was apparently never received by the Petitioner, and the return was not filed
until a deficiency notice for the matter.
It was only upon receiving notice of the tax due--XXXXX months
later--that it was paid. Petitioners
failure to file a timely return opened them to liability for late penalties as
provided for in Utah Code Ann. §59-14a-86 (See Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401) which
states the following:
[I]n
case of failure to file an income tax return and pay the tax before the date
prescribed. . . there shall be added to the amount required to be shown as taxes. . . the greater of $$$$$
or 5% of the amount of such tax [per
each month of delinquency]. . . not to exceed 25%
in the aggregate. . . .
Interest assessments are provided for in Utah
Code Ann. §59-14a-87 to compensate for the loss of use of the tax money
rightfully due the state. In accordance
with Tax Commission procedure, any payments received are credited first to
penalty, then interest, and finally tax.
The
Commission is authorized to waive penalty and interest assessments, and the
Commission will do so upon a showing of reasonable cause. Although receiving
erroneous information from the Tax Commission may be considered reasonable
cause, the taxpayer must show that the noncompliance was caused by reliance on
that erroneous information. In this
case, Petitioners' failure to timely file was not due to reliance on erroneous
information received from the Tax Commission.
In
response to the case submitted as evidence by the Petitioner, the Tax
Commission makes the following comments:
1. Petitioners' employer did file the
correction with the IRS. This is
evidenced by the fact that Utah was notified of the income reported on
Petitioners' federal return.
2.
Any conflict over who should be liable for costs incurred by Petitioner due to the employer's negligence
must be pursued with the employer. The Tax Commission has no authority to make
such determination.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Commission that the
request for waiver of penalty and interest assessments be denied.
DATED
this 29 day of September, 1988.
BY ORDER OF THE STATE TAX COMMISSION OF UTAH.
FOR THE COMMISSION
G. Blaine
Davis
Commissioner