BEFORE THE UTAH STATE TAX
COMMISSION
________________________________
XXXXX, )
:
Petitioner, ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
: CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW,
v. ) AND FINAL DECISION
:
AUDITING
DIVISION OF THE ) Appeal No. 92-1291
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. Lisa L. Olpin, Administrative
Law Judge, heard the matter for and on behalf of the Commission. Petitioner represented herself by
telephone. Present and representing
Respondent was XXXXX, Assistant Utah Attorney General.
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 personal income tax.
2. The year in question is XXXXX.
3. Petitioner received a refund of $$$$$ as a
result of her XXXXX income tax return information.
4. After an audit, Petitioner's Utah taxable
income for the same year was adjusted upwards, leaving Petitioner with a $$$$$
tax liability, penalty and interest.
5. Petitioner appeals the tax adjustment, the
penalty and the interest assessments.
6. Petitioner filed her XXXXX personal federal
income tax return using a 1040 form.
7. When Petitioner reported her XXXXX personal
state income taxes, she used a resident short form. She also referred to the XXXXX Utah income tax return instruction
booklet for direction in filling out her state form.
8. At page 5 of the instruction booklet, tax
preparers are instructed to "Enter one-half of your federal income tax
from line 7 of the federal return, form 1040EZ or line 22 form 1040A" on
line 6 of the state form (emphasis added).
9. Petitioner referred to line 7 or possibly
line 23 of her 1040 federal form and reported one-half of this amount on line 6
of her state income tax return.
10. The problem is that the figure on lines 7
and 23 on the 1040 federal form was Petitioner's total federal income
amount. The figure Petitioner should
have used was line 55 of her 1040 form which represented her total federal tax
liability.
11. Using the wrong figure, Petitioner's XXXXX
state income tax return was in error.
12. Petitioner contends that the state
instruction booklet was misprinted, or at least misleading. She asserts she made an honest effort to
file her return correctly. She wants the
Tax Commission to accept her return as filed.
13. Petitioner also maintains that because the
Tax Commission discovered the error nearly two years later she cannot be
required to pay the penalty or the interest.
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).)
Further,
"the amount of any tax imposed by this chapter shall be assessed within
three years after the return was filed..." (Utah Code Ann. §59-10-536.)
DECISION AND ORDER
Based
upon the foregoing, the Tax Commission finds that the Auditing Division did
properly adjust Petitioner's XXXXX state income tax amount. The penalty assessment is waived; the
interest is not.
Petitioner
is responsible for the correct amount of taxes owing for the year in
question. As stated above, the law
allows the Tax Commission three years to assess taxes on a filed return.
Petitioner
may contact the Collections Division to arrange a payment plan.
DATED
this 21st day of December, 1992.
BY ORDER OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION.
ABSENT
R. H. Hansen Roger
O. Tew
Chairman Commissioner
Joe B.
Pacheco S.
Blaine Willes
Commissioner Commissioner