BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal No.
90-2887
: 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 Petitioners 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, XXXXX, submitted a letter from his doctor, XXXXX, indicating that
XXXXX has been working with XXXXX for approximately two years, and that XXXXX
has been diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder which "often affects
judgment, and in this case is probably a significant contributing factor to
XXXXX's obvious indiscretions in regard to his tax responsibilities."
4.
XXXXX testified that in times of depression he was unable to deal with the
normal stresses of everyday life, much less with his tax situation. During
times of his manic phase he felt that everything was going well and that he did
not need to worry about it and, therefore, did not deal with the taxes at that
time either. Petitioners now have a
C.P.A. helping them with their taxes to enable them to pay them on time.
5.
This case originally came before the appeals section for the XXXXX tax year
only. During the hearing, XXXXX
requested that the XXXXX tax year be decided upon in this decision as well even
though the Commission's initial decision on the waiver request for XXXXX had
not been received by Petitioner as of the date of the hearing. Following the hearing, the presiding officer
discovered that the Tax Commission had recently acted on Petitioners' XXXXX
waiver request, which also included on it the XXXXX year which was originally
in question in this case. For both
years together, the total penalty amounted to $$$$$, and the Commission reduced
that penalty to $$$$$. The Commission
denied the waiver on the interest. The
Commission's reasoning was that if XXXXX was well enough to function in his
occupation sufficiently to earn a taxable income, then he should also have been
well enough to file and pay his taxes in a timely manner. However, the Commission thought that XXXXX's
illness was sufficient cause for a reduction in the penalty.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The
Tax Commission is granted the authority to waive, reduce, or compromise
penalties and interest upon a showing of reasonable cause. (Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8).)
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the action undertaken by the Commission already for both the XXXXX and
XXXXX tax year, the Commission hereby reaffirms that action and its reduction
in the penalty amount.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has been
shown which would justify a reduction of the penalty associated with the XXXXX
and XXXXX tax years to the amount of $$$$$.
Interest is not waived but will be adjusted to account for the waiver of
the penalty. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 2 day of April, 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