BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
______________________________
XXXXX,
Petitioner, : FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
v. : AND FINAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 90-1053
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, :
: Account
No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for a formal telephone hearing
on XXXXX. Joseph G. Linford, Presiding
Officer, heard the matter for and on behalf of the Commission. Present and representing the Petitioner was
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 individual income
tax.
2. The periods in question are the tax years
XXXXX and XXXXX.
3. Petitioner requests a waiver of penalty and
interest assessments for the periods in question. For XXXXX, Petitioner alleges that his accountant made an error
on Petitioner's tax return and that this was an error of which Petitioner was
not aware. Petitioner asserts that he
relied upon the accountant's expertise in good faith.
4. Petitioner requests a waiver of penalty and
interest in XXXXX because of his status as a part-time resident of Arizona, and
his tax return was filed late for that year because it was delayed "in the
shuffle" and Petitioner was not able to send it in on time.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. Utah Code Ann. §§59-1-401 and59-1-402
provide that penalties and interest shall be assessed for the late filing or
payment of taxes.
2. Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8) provides that
upon reasonable cause shown, the Commission may waive or reduce penalties and
interest assessed under the above statutes.
3. Such reasonable cause has not been shown for
waiver of the penalty and interest in this case. The accountant, in preparing the XXXXX tax return, made an error
on that return. Petitioner is
responsible for the errors of the accountant in his employ. As for the XXXXX period, Petitioner has also
shown no reasonable cause for the waiver of the penalty. Although it may have been difficult for
Petitioner to have filed his taxes on time for that year, and it may have been
a mere mistake on his part in not so doing, such mere negligence on the part of
a taxpayer is not sufficient cause for waiver of a penalty. The interest assessments for both years
should also not be waived because the state has been deprived of the use of
these tax funds for a period of time and should be compensated for that loss of
use.
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, it is the decision and order of the Utah State Tax
Commission that Petitioner's request for waiver of penalty and interest for
both years is denied.
DATED
this 28 day of August, 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