BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
_____________________________________
XXXXX, )
Petitioner, : FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
v. : AND FINAL DECISION
COLLECTION
DIVISION OF THE : Appeal No. 91-1414
UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION, : Account
No. XXXXX
Respondent. :
_____________________________________
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. XXXXX and XXXXX participated by telephone of
behalf of the Petitioner.
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. During XXXXX, Respondent audited
Petitioner's XXXXX withholding tax reports.
In the course of that audit, Respondent discovered Petitioner had paid
$$$$$ less than the liability established by Petitioner's withholding tax
reports. Respondent advised Petitioner
of the tax liability and assessed a 10% late payment penalty in the amount of
$$$$$ against Petitioner, as well as interest.
4. After receiving notice of the foregoing,
Petitioner reviewed its records and concluded that its check in the amount of
$$$$$, mailed to the Commission on XXXXX, had not been cashed. Petitioner stopped payment on the original
check and issued a replacement check.
5. Other than the one incident which is the
subject of this appeal, Petitioner has filed every withholding tax report on
time and has paid its tax liability in full.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The
Tax Commission is granted the authority to waive, reduce, or compromise
penalties and interest upon a showing of reasonable cause. (Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8).)
DECISION AND ORDER
The
Commission finds it unlikely that Petitioner failed to discover that one of its
checks for an amount in excess of $$$$$ had gone uncashed for four years. However, Respondent did not take action on
the matter for several years. In
Petitioner's favor, Commission records establish that it has an excellent
record of compliance with tax filing and payment requirements, before and after
the incident in question.
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that reasonable cause has been
established to waive the penalty assessed with respect to Petitioner's XXXXX
withholding tax liability.
Interest
is not waived, but will be recomputed in accordance with this decision. It is so ordered.
DATED
this 10 day of April, 1992.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco S.
Blaine Willes
Commissioner Commissioner