BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
______________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal No.
91-0815
: Account
No. XXXXX
___________________________
STATEMENT OF CASE
This
matter came before the Utah State Tax Commission for a formal hearing on
XXXXX. Paul F. Iwasaki, Presiding
Officer, heard the matter for and on behalf of the Commission. Present and representing the Petitioner were
XXXXX 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 withholding tax.
2. The period in question is XXXXX.
3. The bookkeeper for the Petitioner who is
responsible for calculating, paying, and filing the withholding tax returns,
was ill and absent from work from XXXXX, through XXXXX because of bronchial
pneumonia.
4. Because of the illness of the bookkeeper,
the withholding tax for XXXXX, was not filed until her return on XXXXX.
5. It was the bookkeeper's common practice to
prepare and file the returns during the last few days of the month in which
they were due. Because of her illness,
the Petitioner was unable to perform that duty. No one else in the organization was sufficiently familiar with
the bookkeeping operation to make the payment as required.
6. When the bookkeeper did prepare and pay the
withholding tax, she made an error in the calculation by adding the XXXXX and
XXXXX amounts together.
Therefore,
when paying the XXXXX withholding tax, the Petitioner reported withholding in
the amount of $$$$$, when in fact, the actual tax due for that period was
$$$$$.
7. As a result of the late filing and payment
of the XXXXX withholding tax return, the Petitioner was assessed a penalty in
the amount of $$$$$.
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 sufficient cause has been shown
which would justify a waiver of the penalty for the period in question. Interest should be adjusted accordingly. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 15th day of August, 1991.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco S.
Blaine Willes*
Commissioner Commissioner