BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX )
:
Petitioner, ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW
v. ) AND FINAL DECISION
: Appeal No.
89-0239
)
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE :
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. Petitioner
was represented by XXXXX. No one
representing 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
l. The tax in question is sales and use tax.
2. The period in question is the second quarter
of XXXXX.
3. This case concerns the prepayment of
Petitioner's sales and use tax for the second quarter of XXXXX. The first time Petitioner had been required
to make such a prepayment was in XXXXX and Petitioner had erroneously thought
that was the only year it would be required to make the prepayment. Therefore, in XXXXX Petitioner filed and
paid his sales tax at the usual time instead of at the deadline for the
prepayment. Petitioner was assessed
penalty and interest for the late payment.
4. Petitioner has paid the tax and interest
amounts and requests a waiver of the penalty.
Petitioner has a good past history of timely payment of sales and use
taxes and asserts that this penalty is large and severe for his size of
business.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Utah Code Ann. §§59-1-401 and 59-1-402
provide that penalties and interest shall be assessed for the late filing of
sales taxes.
2. Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8) provides that
the Commission may upon reasonable cause shown waive or reduce the penalties
assessed under the above statutes.
3. Such reasonable cause has not been shown in
this case. Petitioner was on notice
that the prepayment was required for his business. Although he was confused about the continued applicability of the
prepayments each succeeding year and thought that it would not apply in XXXXX
as it did in XXXXX, it is nevertheless Petitioner's responsibility to be
sufficiently aware of the tax laws and how they operate so that Petitioner can
properly comply with those laws.
DECISION AND ORDER.
Based
on the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax Commission
that Petitioner's request for waiver of penalty be denied.
DATED
this 17th day of May, 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