BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioner, : FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW
: AND FINAL
DECISION
:
v. :
: Appeal No.
89-1045
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE :
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, :
: Acct No.
XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission pursuant to the Rules of
Administrative Procedure and the Administrative Procedures Act for formal
adjudicative proceedings on XXXXX, before Joseph G. Linford, Presiding
Officer. The Petitioner was represented
by XXXXX. No one representing the Respondent
appeared at the hearing.
Based
upon the recommendations of the Presiding Officer and upon the evidence and
arguments in the file and also presented at the hearing, the Tax Commission
hereby makes its:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1.
The tax in question is sales tax.
2.
The period in question is XXXXX.
3.
When Petitioner obtained his sales tax license he was informed that he would
receive tax forms for the payment of the sales tax sometime after the first of
the year.
4.
Accordingly, Petitioner alleges he had his records ready and money available to
pay the tax when he received the proper forms.
5.
Petitioner did not receive the forms and called the Tax Commission offices on
XXXXX, to inquire as to why he had not received the forms. He was told at that time that he was late in
paying his taxes and that a penalty would be assessed. He was advised to submit a letter requesting
waiver of the penalty.
6.
His original letter and two subsequent copies were either lost by or were never
received by the Tax Commission. A
penalty of $$$$$ was assessed on Petitioner's account in addition to interest
on the delinquent tax amount.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Utah
Code Ann. §59-1-401 (1987 Rep., 1989 Supp.) provides that the Tax Commission
may assess penalties for the late filing of tax returns and the late payment of
taxes due. Utah Code Ann. §59-1-402
(1987 Rep., 1989 Supp.) provides that interest in the amount of 12% annually
shall be assessed on past due taxes. Utah
Code Ann. §59-1-401(8) (1987 Rep., 1989 Supp.) provides that upon reasonable
cause shown, the Tax Commission may waive or reduce penalties or interest
assessed under the above statutes.
Reasonable
cause has been shown for waiver of a portion of the penalty assessed in this
case due to the misunderstanding between the Petitioner and the Collection
Division of the Utah State Tax Commission.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax
Commission that the penalty and interest be waived, and the Collection Division
shall remove these obligations from the Petitioner's account.
DATED
this 20th day of November, 1989.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
FOR THE COMMISSION
G. Blaine
Davis
Commissioner