BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX
Petitioner, :
:
v. : INFORMAL DECISION
: Appeal No.
89-1047
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE :
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, :
: Acct No.
XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter comes before the Utah State Tax Commission pursuant to a Request for
Reconsideration filed by the Petitioner dated XXXXX, and received by the Tax
Commission XXXXX.
An informal decision was rendered dated
XXXXX, by the Tax Commission which denied Petitioner's request for waiver of
penalty and interest on the late filing of the Petitioner's sales tax return
for the third quarter XXXXX. Pursuant
to Utah Code Ann. §63-46b-5(1)(b,j), no hearing was held. Petitioner's file served as the evidentiary
basis for that decision and that file including Petitioner's letter of XXXXX
now serves as the evidentiary basis for this decision on the Petition for
Redetermination.
Petitioner
alleges in his letter dated XXXXX, that a Mr. XXXXX, DBA: XXXXX, received a
waiver of penalty and interest from the Tax Commission under circumstances
similar to those of Petitioner.
Research into Mr. XXXXX's account reveals that Petitioner has been
misinformed in that regard. To protect
Mr. XXXXX's right of confidentiality, it is not proper to reveal the
circumstances of Mr. XXXXX's account.
However, it may be noted that those circumstances are different from
those in this case and have no bearing here.
Additionally, each case must stand on its own merits independent of
other cases.
One
of the major reasons for the previous denial was the general policy of the Tax
Commission that it is the responsibility of taxpayers to obtain information and
to be aware of deadlines and procedures for the timely filing and payment of
taxes and that Petitioner had failed to meet that responsibility. However, in his Petition for Redetermination
of XXXXX, Petitioner asserts that he did assume that responsibility by
contacting the Tax Commission and requesting the necessary information in a
timely manner but the information did not come from the Tax Commission in time
for him to timely pay his third quarter XXXXX sales taxes.
This
was Petitioner's first quarter in filing and paying sales tax for his small
business. Petitioner has since filed
and paid his taxes on time.
FINDINGS
Utah
Code Ann. §§59-1-401,59-1-402,59-12-107(19) and59-12-111 provide that penalty
and interest shall be assessed for the late filing of tax returns and the late
payment of sales taxes. Utah Code Ann.
§59-1-401(8) provides that the Commission upon reasonable cause shown may waive
or reduce any of the penalties or interest imposed under the above
statutes. Reasonable cause for waiver
of the penalty and interest has been shown in this case since Petitioner timely
made the effort to contact the Commission and tried to obtain the necessary
information, since this was his first quarter filing sales tax returns and also
since his record has been good with the Tax Commission since that time.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
on the foregoing facts, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax
Commission that Petitioner's request for waiver of penalty and interest be
granted.
DATED
this 9th day of March, 1990.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
FOR THE COMMISSION
G. Blaine
Davis
Commissioner