BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
________________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS
OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal
Nos. 90-1380 and
: 90-1381
: Account
Nos. XXXXX and
: XXXXX
_____________________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for a formal 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 taxes in question are sales and withholding taxes.
2.
The period in question is the third quarter of XXXXX.
3.
During the month of XXXXX, Petitioner filled out the tax returns for the period
and taxes in question and wrote out the checks for the amounts due. Petitioner, however, did not have funds
available to pay the taxes at that time and put the returns and checks aside to
be remitted when the money was available.
Petitioner's intent was to pay them timely, but Petitioner forgot about
the taxes and did not submit them.
Petitioner discovered the difficulty in XXXXX and then paid the tax
amount due. Petitioner has since paid
the penalty and interest as well.
4.
Petitioner feels that since an honest mistake caused the difficulty, penalty
and interest should be waived.
5.
The hearing on XXXXX concerned appeal number 90-1380, the sales tax account
number XXXXX. Petitioner testified at
the hearing that the same facts applied exactly to the withholding tax account
number XXXXX, appeal number 90-1381, and requested that one decision be made on
both accounts on the basis of the XXXXX hearing.
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
The
Tax Commission recognizes Petitioner's honest intent, but Petitioner was
negligent and did pay the taxes in question quite late. Mere negligence, such as that evidenced in
this case, is not sufficient reasonable cause under the law for a waiver of
penalty and interest. In fact, one of
the major purposes of the penalty is to provide an incentive for taxpayers to
not be negligent in the payment of taxes.
Additionally, interest should not be waived because the state was
deprived of the use of the funds in question for a period of time and should be
compensated for that loss of use.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has not been
shown which would justify a waiver of the penalty and interest associated with
the third quarter of XXXXX. It is so
ordered.
DATED
this 20 day of December 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