BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
____________________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal No.
90-2510
: Account
No. XXXXX
___________________________________
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 were
XXXXX, Attorney at Law, 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 period in question is the second quarter
of XXXXX.
3. Between XXXXX and XXXXX, Petitioner sold
off-road diesel fuel to XXXXX of XXXXX.
All deliveries of this fuel were made to a mining operation at
XXXXX. Utah sales tax was collected by
Petitioner on these sales.
4. Petitioner later determined that these sales
were not subject to Utah sales tax since they were made to an out-of-state
entity, and Petitioner petitioned the Tax Commission for a refund of the taxes
remitted to the Tax Commission. This
occurred after XXXXX had requested a refund of such taxes from Petitioner.
5. By letter dated XXXXX, the Tax Commission
notified Petitioner of the refund of the taxes collected from XXXXX in the
amount of $$$$$, plus $$$$$ in interest, for a total refund of $$$$$.
6. The prepayment of Petitioner's sales tax had
been remitted late for the second quarter of XXXXX. Therefore, a penalty was assessed. However, part of this penalty was assessed on the monies that
were refunded to Petitioner, and from Petitioner, in turn, to XXXXX. Petitioner does not contest the penalty for
the period in question, except the penalty assessed on the refunded
amounts. It is Petitioner's position
that since those amounts were not actually due the state in the first place,
then no penalty should be assessed on them.
7. Research into Tax Commission records shows
that Petitioner's assertions regarding the penalty assessment are correct in
that the penalty was assessed in part on the monies refunded to
Petitioner. Therefore, for the second
quarter of XXXXX, the original tax liability of $$$$$ should be adjusted by the
amount of Petitioner's refund corresponding with this period, i.e. $$$$$, to
render an adjusted tax liability of $$$$$.
The required prepayment would have been XXXXX of the adjusted tax
liability, which amounts to $$$$$.
Therefore, an appropriate penalty for the untimely prepayment on the
adjusted tax amount would have been $$$$$.
The original penalty assessed was $$$$$. If the adjusted penalty of $$$$$ is subtracted from that amount,
it renders an overassessment of the penalty amounting to $$$$$. This is the amount of penalty that
Petitioner is contesting.
8. Based upon the foregoing, Petitioner
requests that the $$$$$ portion of the penalty be waived since that is the
portion of the penalty pertaining to the sales tax refund for the period in
question.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The
Tax Commission is granted the authority to waive, reduce, or compromise
penalties and interest upon a showing of reasonable cause. (Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8).)
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has been
shown which would justify a reduction of the penalty associated with the second
quarter of XXXXX to the amount of $$$$$.
This amounts to a reduction of the penalty in the amount of $$$$$. Interest shall be adjusted to account for
the reduction in the penalty. It is so
ordered.
DATED
this 15th day of February, 1991.
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