BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_______________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
: Appeal No.
91-0328
: 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 period in question is the first quarter
of XXXXX.
3. On XXXXX Petitioner's president, XXXXX, met
with Petitioner's accountant and finished preparing the tax report for the
period in question. XXXXX then
personally mailed the return and payment at the post office. The envelope in which the return and payment
were mailed does not have a postmark date.
The date of XXXXX, is stamped on the envelope, but when Petitioner
presented this to an official at the post office, the official stated that this
was not a postal service postmark, but may have been a date stamped by the Tax
Commission when they received the envelope.
4. Petitioner has a good past and subsequent
history of timely payment and filing of its sales taxes.
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
Because
the late arrival of the return and payment for the period in question at the Tax
Commission was due to circumstances beyond Petitioner's control, the penalty in
this case should be waived. Interest,
however, should not be waived because 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 been
shown which would justify a waiver of the penalty associated with Petitioner's
sales taxes for the first quarter of XXXXX.
Interest is not waived but shall be adjusted to account for the waiver
of the penalty. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 7th day of June, 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