BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
____________________________________
XXXXX,
Petitioner, : FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
v. : AND FINAL DECISION
:
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 90-1575
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 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 withholding tax.
2. The period in question is XXXXX.
3. The Petitioner is a non-profit organization
which contracts with XXXXX to provide XXXXX services on behalf of the county.
4. The withholding tax for XXXXX, which was due
XXXXX, was drawn on XXXXX and placed in an envelope. The envelope was then inadvertently placed in a stack of other
unused envelopes and was not mailed.
5. The error was discovered and payment was
made immediately thereafter on XXXXX.
6. As a result of the untimely filing and
payment of the XXXXX withholding tax, a penalty in the amount of $$$$$ was
imposed as well as interest calculated at the statutorily prescribed rate.
7. The penalty was subsequently waived by
Commission action. The Petitioner
requests a waiver of the interest 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
In
the present case, the untimely filing of the withholding tax and return was an
honest error, thus justifying the waiver of the penalty. The waiver of the interest, however, is
another matter. The imposition of interest
is not to serve as a penalty for failing to comply with the applicable statutes
or rules. The function of interest is
to compensate for that money which the state did not have the use of, but which
remained with the taxpayer.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has not been
shown which would justify a waiver of the interest associated with the XXXXX
withholding tax. Interest is to be
calculated from the date the tax was due until XXXXX, which was the date that
it was paid. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 27 day of November, 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