BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX
:
Petitioner, :
: FINDINGS
OF FACT,
v. : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
: AND FINAL
DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 88-2768
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, :
: Account
No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission pursuant to the Utah
Administrative Procedures Act for a formal hearing on XXXXX before Joseph G.
Linford, Presiding Officer. Present and
representing the Petitioner was XXXXX.
No one representing the Respondent appeared. After reviewing the evidence and arguments of the parties in the
record and the recommendation of the presiding officer, the Tax Commission
hereby makes its:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The tax in question is withholding tax.
2. The period in question is the third quarter
of XXXXX.
3. During this period of time the Petitioner
was short staffed. The staff member
responsible for filing the taxes in question was ill for a number of days and
the taxes were not filed or paid on time.
As soon as the employee returned to work the taxes were filed and paid.
4. Petitioner has since added additional
personnel and also completed its internal systems development so that such a
difficulty will not occur in the future.
Petitioner's previous history is one of timely payment and filing of
taxes.
5. By letter dated XXXXX, Petitioner was
informed that the Tax Commission had denied Petitioner's initial request for
waiver of penalties and interest.
However, Tax Commission records indicate that the Commission reduced the
penalty in this case from $$$$$ to $$$$$ and denied the request for waiver of
interest. Therefore, the XXXXX letter
was in error, and the Petitioner should have been informed that all but $$$$$
of the penalty had been waived.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Utah Code Ann. §§59-1-401 and59-1-402
provide that penalties and interest shall be assessed for the late payment and
filing of taxes.
2. Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8) provides that
the Commission may, upon reasonable cause shown, waive or reduce the penalties
and interest assessed under the above statutes.
3. Such reasonable cause has been shown in this
case, particularly since it appears to have been the intent of the Commission
that all but $$$$$ of the penalty be waived, although that was not communicated
in the denial letter sent to Petitioner.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax
Commission that the penalty be reduced to $$$$$ and Petitioner's request for
waiver of interest be denied, but that interest should be recalculated taking
into consideration the reduction in the penalty amount.
DATED
this 4 day of April, 1990.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco G.
Blaine Davis
Commissioner Commissioner