BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX )
:
Petitioner )
: FINDINGS
OF FACT,
v. ) CONCLUSIONS OF LAW,
: AND FINAL
DECISION
)
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 89-0064
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 XXXXX,
Presiding Officer. XXXXX, President of
the Petitioner's corporation, appeared representing Petitioner. Respondent was not represented at the
hearing.
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 sales and use tax.
2. The period in question is the fourth quarter
of XXXXX.
3. By check dated XXXXX, Petitioner stated that
it mailed to the Utah State Tax Commission payment in full for the taxes in question.
4. Petitioner alleges that this payment and the
accompanying return were mailed to the Tax Commission in a timely manner on
XXXXX, and that there would have been sufficient funds in the bank at the time
to cover the amount of the check. A
bank statement and revolving note of credit on Petitioner's account
substantiate this latter assertion.
5. In late XXXXX, Petitioner was notified by
the Tax Commission that they had not received payment. Mr. XXXXX informed the Tax Commission at
that time that the payment had been made in a timely manner.
6. Petitioner next heard from the Tax
Commission on XXXXX, when Petitioner was again informed that the tax had never
been received. Mr. XXXXX then issued
another check dated XXXXX, in replacement for the earlier check dated XXXXX.
7. Petitioner now requests that the penalties
and interest be waived due to the fact that his timely payment was apparently
lost in the mail. Petitioner has already paid the tax and interest amounts.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Utah Code Ann. §§59-1-401 and 59-1-402
provide that penalties and interest shall be assessed upon the untimely payment
of taxes and the untimely filing of tax returns.
2. Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8) provides that
the Tax Commission upon reasonable cause may waive or reduce penalties or
interest assessed under the above statutes.
3. Such reasonable cause has been shown for
waiver of the penalty in this case because the Petitioner did mail the return
with the required payment to the Tax Commission in a timely manner. The fact that this return, and its
accompanying payment, were lost in the mail is a circumstance beyond the
Petitioner's control and due to no fault of the Petitioner. Interest, however is not waived since the
state lost the use of the funds in question for a period of time and should be
recompensed for that loss of use.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax Commission
that the request of the Petitioner for waiver of the penalty is granted.
DATED
this 19th day of July, 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