BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
In Re: :
XXXXX ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
: AND FINAL
DECISION
Petitioner, :
: Appeal No.
90-2631
: Account
No. 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 tax in question is sales tax.
2.
The periods in question are the fourth quarter of XXXXX, the second through
fourth quarters of XXXXX, and the first and second quarters of XXXXX.
3.
Petitioner stated that the delinquency in the payment of sales taxes for the
periods in question was the result of a change in Petitioner's business
operations. Petitioner is involved in
the business of apartment rentals, and beginning with the periods in question,
Petitioner started to lease some of its units for thirty days or less which
rendered them subject to sales tax.
Petitioner knew that this change would require that a transient room tax
be charged but was unaware that the sales tax would then be required as
well. As soon as Petitioner was
apprised of the fact that the sales tax should be collected by Petitioner for
stays of less than thirty days, Petitioner began collecting and remitting the
tax.
4.
Because Petitioner's delinquency in filing and paying the sales tax for the
periods in question, penalties and interest have been assessed. Petitioner
requests that the penalty and interest charges be waived based upon the above
facts.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The
Tax Commission is granted this 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
penalty assessed in this case is a negligence penalty which is appropriate in a
case such as this where the taxpayer was negligent in meeting its sales tax
obligation. Petitioner had the duty to
become aware of the sales tax requirements and to meet those requirements, but
the evidence does not show that Petitioner made any effort to make itself aware
of the requirements. Therefore, since Petitioner was negligent, the waiver of
the penalty would not be appropriate.
Additionally, interest should not be waived since the state was deprived
of the use of the tax funds in question for a period of time through no fault
of its own 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 fourth quarter of XXXXX, the second through fourth quarters of XXXXX, and
the first and second quarters of XXXXX.
It is so ordered.
DATED
this 15 day of February, 1991.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco G.
Blaine Davis
Commissioner Commissioner