BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX, )
Petitioner, )
) AMENDED
v. )
INFORMAL DECISION
)
) Appeal No.
89-0530
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE )
STATE TAX
COMMISSION OF UTAH, )
) Acct No.
XXXXX
Respondent. )
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
is an appeal to the Utah State Tax Commission from the denial of Petitioners' request
for a waiver of a penalty and interest assessment on Petitioners' XXXXX income
tax return. An informal decision dated
XXXXX was signed by the Commission which denied Petitioners' request for waiver
of penalty and interest. That decision
was made in consideration of all the information immediately available to the
Tax Commission at that point in time.
However, following the issuance of that decision, the following
information was discovered which renders necessary a change in the former
decision.
Petitioners
filed their XXXXX income tax return untimely, and although Petitioners did have
an extension for the filing of that return, they did not file the return until
after the extension had expired. As a
result, penalty and interest were assessed on the late filing of Petitioners'
XXXXX income tax return that was filed along with their XXXXX income tax
return.
On
the XXXXX return, Petitioners qualified for a tax refund which was to be
applied to the obligation due on their XXXXX return. However, the Petitioners' hand written social security number on
the tax forms was not completely legible and, therefore, the XXXXX refund was
not applied to the XXXXX obligation.
Petitioners assumed that the XXXXX refund was so applied and their
obligation satisfied. Because the
computer did not show that obligation as being satisfied, an additional
assessment of penalties was added to Petitioners' XXXXX income tax.
FINDINGS
Utah
Code Ann. §§59-1-401 and59-1-402 (1989) provide that penalties and interest
shall be assessed for failure to file timely tax returns. Utah Code
Ann.59-1-401(8) (1987 Rep. 1989 Supp.) provides that the Commission upon
reasonable cause shown may waive or reduce penalties or interest assessed under
the above statutes. Such reasonable
cause has been shown for a waiver of a portion of the penalties and interest
assessed after the XXXXX refund that should have been applied to the XXXXX
income tax due.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax Commission
that Petitioners' request for waiver of the penalties and interest assessed is
granted in part. The penalty is
therefore reduced to $50 and the interest is reduced by that amount which
accrued after the time when the 1987 refund should have been applied. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 7th day of November, 1989.
FOR THE COMMISSION
G. Blaine
Davis
Commissioner