BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_______________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal No.
91-0729
: Account
No. XXXXX
______________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for a formal hearing on XXXXX.
Alan Hennebold, 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 individual income
tax.
2. The periods in question are XXXXX and XXXXX.
3. During the years in question, and other
years, XXXXX was involved as either an employee or independent contractor with
a business owned by his father. With
respect to XXXXX, he worked part of the year as an employee and the remainder
as an independent contractor. Due to
the company's financial difficulties, it was unable to pay him, which resulted
in XXXXX having insufficient funds to pay his tax liability. He did not file his return for that year
until XXXXX. When filed, the return
established a tax liability of $$$$$ of which $$$$$ had been paid through
withholding, leaving a balance due of $$$$$.
A 10% penalty for late filing and an additional 10% penalty for late
payment was assessed, together with associated interest.
4. With respect to XXXXX, XXXXX worked for his
father's company as an employee. He was
aware that his employer had failed to pay the withholding tax due. As a result, he believed that he could not
deduct the tax withheld from his wages against his tax liability. He did not file a tax return until XXXXX,
which return established a liability of $$$$$.
He
received a credit for withholding tax of $$$$$, leaving $$$$$ unpaid. A $$$$$ late filing penalty was assessed,
together with an additional $$$$$ legal fee.
5. Penalty has been imposed against XXXXX with
respect to his income tax liability for each of the years XXXXX through XXXXX.
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
The
fact that penalty has been imposed against XXXXX for several years, including
five years prior to the XXXXX and XXXXX tax years, establishes a consistent
pattern of failure to comply with the requirements of Utah's individual income
tax law. With respect to the two years
in question, he failed to file income tax returns until substantially after the
filing deadline. Even if XXXXX lacked
funds to pay his tax liability, he could have filed the tax returns within the
period established by law.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has not been
shown which would justify a waiver of the penalty or interest associated with
XXXXX and XXXXX income tax liability.
His request for waiver is therefore denied. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 17th day of October, 1991.
BY ORDER OF THE STATE TAX COMMISSION OF UTAH.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco S.
Blaine Willes*
Commissioner Commissioner