BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_______________________________
XXXXX,
:
Petitioner, : FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
v. : AND FINAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 90-0997
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, :
: Account
No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for a formal hearing on
XXXXX. Paul F. Iwasaki, Presiding Officer,
heard the matter for and on behalf of the Commission. Present and representing the Petitioner were XXXXX and XXXXX.
Based
upon the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, the Tax Commission
hereby makes its:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1.
The tax in question is sales tax.
2.
The periods in question are the third and fourth quarters XXXXX; the first,
second and fourth quarters of XXXXX; and the first and second quarters of
XXXXX.
3.
The Petitioner filed and paid sales tax returns for the above mentioned
quarters on XXXXX.
4.
The basis for the delay was that the individual responsible for filing and
paying those returns did not perform his job.
5.
The individual was first hired by the Petitioner on XXXXX. That individual was responsible for
preparing and filing sales tax returns for three related corporations which had
a number of retail stores located in 17 states, including Utah.
6.
On XXXXX, the Petitioner began to receive indications that the individual in
question was not performing his job. On
XXXXX and XXXXX, the Petitioner discovered that individual had not made sales
tax payments to at least 12 separate states and, for the most part, had not
performed any of the responsibilities to which he was assigned.
7.
The individual was terminated from his employment on the following business day
and immediately thereafter, a public accounting firm was retained to
reconstruct the sales reports from the three organizations so that sales tax
returns could be filed.
8.
Because it was necessary to reconstruct each file for each taxing jurisdiction
for the affected periods, the Petitioner was unable to file its sales tax
returns for the above-mentioned periods until XXXXX.
9.
The non-filing and payment of the above-mentioned periods was discovered by the
Petitioner by its own initiative and was not prompted by prior contact
regarding those dates by the Commission.
10.
Because the individual in question had effectively concealed his malfeasance
from the Petitioner, his actions were not discovered by the Petitioner until
XXXXX.
11.
As a result of the untimely filing and payment of the sales tax returns for the
periods in question, the Petitioner was assessed a penalty in the amount of
$$$$$, as well as interest assessed at the statutorily prescribed rate. The Petitioner has paid the interest and is
seeking relief from the penalty amount assessed.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The
Tax Commission is granted the authority to waive, reduce, or compromise
penalties and interest upon a showing of reasonable cause. (Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8).)
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has been
shown which would justify a reduction of the penalty associated with the
above-described quarters, to the amount of $$$$$. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 19th day of October, 1990.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
ABSENT
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco G.
Blaine Davis
Commissioner Commissioner