BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
Petitioner, : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW,
v. : AND FINAL DECISION
:
AUDITING
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 89-1935
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, : Account
No. XXXXX
Respondent, :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission based on a stipulation of
facts submitted by James Harward, representing the Petitioner, and XXXXX,
Assistant Attorney General. Alan
Hennebold, Presiding Officer, heard the matter for and on behalf of the
Commission.
Based
upon the parties' stipulation of facts and the documentary record in this
matter, 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.
On XXXXX, the Petitioner purchased a XXXXX automobile from XXXXX, located in
Salt Lake City, Utah.
4.
At the time he purchased the vehicle, the Petitioner executed a non-resident
affidavit, stating therein that he was a resident of Colorado and had not lived
in Utah during the previous sixty days.
In fact, at the time of the transaction he resided in Utah, was employed
in Utah, had a Utah driver's license and owned several vehicles registered in
Utah. He had also filed resident income
tax returns in Utah for the previous several years.
5.
The Petitioner purchased the vehicle for his mother's use in Florida. The vehicle is now registered to the
Petitioner and his mother in Florida.
6.
Based on the foregoing information, the Respondent assessed sales tax in the
amount of $$$$$ and a XXXXX penalty in the amount of $$$$$ on the grounds the
Petitioner had intentionally disregarded the Utah Sales Tax Act in executing
his non-resident affidavit and purchasing the vehicle without paying sales tax.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Utah
Code Section 59-12-104(9) exempts from sales tax the purchase of vehicles to
bona fide non-residents of this state if such vehicles are not thereafter
registered or used in Utah except as necessary to transport them out of Utah.
Rule
R873-22m-1 (Utah Administrative Code 1990-91) defines "resident" as,
among other things, every person who is a legal resident of this state, every
person employed in the state, and every person declaring himself to be a
resident of the state.
DECISION AND ORDER
While
the Petitioner may have purchased the vehicle in question with the intention
that it be used by his mother in Florida, the facts clearly remain that the
vehicle was purchased in Utah by a resident of Utah. The transaction is therefore subject to sales tax. Had the Petitioner correctly completed the
non-resident affidavit, the taxable nature of the transaction would have been
apparent and the appropriate tax would have been collected by the dealer.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission affirms the determination of the
Respondent assessing sales tax of $$$$$ and penalty of $$$$$ against the
Petitioner. It is so.
DATED
this 5th day of September, 1991.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco S.
Blaine Willes
Commissioner Commissioner