BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
___________________________
In Re: ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
XXXXX ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
: Appeal No.
91-0837
: 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 prepayment sales tax.
2. The period in question is XXXXX and XXXXX.
3. The Petitioner's sales tax liability for the
first quarter of XXXXX exceeded $$$$$.
4. The Petitioner failed to prepay its sales
and use tax liability for XXXXX and XXXXX.
Instead, the Petitioner reported and paid such liability as part of its
regular quarterly filing, which was submitted to the Tax Commission on XXXXX.
5. The Petitioner contends its staff was
unaware of the prepayment requirement and had received no prepayment report
forms from the Commission.
6. The Petitioner failed to prepay its sales
and use tax liability for XXXXX and XXXXX in both XXXXX and XXXXX. It was consequently assessed penalty and
interest for both of those years.
7. Due to its failure to prepay its sales and
use tax liability for XXXXX and XXXXX, Commission staff assessed a penalty of
$$$$$, together with associated interest.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Certain
taxpayers are required to make a prepayment of not less than 90% of their sales
and use tax liability for the months of April and May of each year. The return and payment are due on or before
June 15th of each year. Failure to make
the required prepayment by June 15th will incur penalties as provided in Utah
Code Ann. §§59-12-108 and59-1-401.
(Utah State Tax Commission Administrative RuleR865-19S-87.)
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
At
the outset, the Commission notes that the prepayment sales tax requirement is
an unusual circumstance that arises only when certain conditions have been
met. Nevertheless, the legislature by
statute has mandated the prepayment requirement and has provided for penalties
to be imposed for failure to comply with the statute.
Only
under extraordinary circumstances will the Commission waive the penalties
imposed for having failed to comply with the prepayment provisions. Such
extraordinary circumstances do not exist in the present case. It appears that the Petitioner should have
known of the prepayment requirement based upon its experience in previous
years. Failure to receive prepayment
report forms from the Tax Commission is insufficient to excuse Petitioner's
non-payment, as such forms are available on request.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that sufficient cause has not been
shown which would justify a waiver of the penalty associated with the XXXXX and
XXXXX sales tax prepayment. It is so
ordered.
DATED
this 15th day of July, 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