ARTICLE I. BUSINESS LICENSE TAX
IN GENERAL; ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 14-11.
Penalty for failure to pay license tax when due.
(a) A penalty of ten percent (10%) of
the tax may be imposed upon the failure to file an application or the failure to pay the
tax by the appropriate due date. Only the late filing penalty shall be imposed by the
commissioner of revenue if both the application and payment are late; however, both
penalties may be assessed if the commissioner of revenue determines that the taxpayer has
a history of noncompliance. In the case of an assessment of additional tax made by the
commissioner of revenue, if the application and, if applicable, the return were made in
good faith and the understatement of the tax was not due to any fraud, reckless or
intentional disregard of the law by the taxpayer, there shall be no late payment penalty
assessed with the additional tax. If any assessment of tax by the commissioner of revenue
is not paid within thirty (30) days, the treasurer may impose a ten percent (10%) late
payment penalty. If the failure to file or pay was not the fault of the taxpayer, the
penalties shall not be imposed, or if imposed, shall be abated by the official who
assessed them. In order to demonstrate lack of fault, the taxpayer must show that he acted
responsibly and that the failure was due to events beyond his control.
"Acted responsibly"
means that: (i) the taxpayer exercised the level of reasonable care that a prudent person
would exercise under the circumstances in determining the filing obligations for the
business and (ii) the taxpayer undertook significant steps to avoid or mitigate the
failure, such as requesting appropriate extension (where applicable), attempting to
prevent a foreseeable impediment, acting to remove an impediment once it occurred, and
promptly rectifying a failure once the impediment was removed or the failure discovered.
"Events beyond the
taxpayer’s control" include, but are not limited to, the unavailability of
records due to fire or other casualty; the unavoidable absence (e.g., due to death or
serious illness) of the person with the sole responsibility for tax compliance; or the
taxpayer’s reasonable reliance in good faith upon erroneous written information from
the commissioner of revenue who was aware of the relevant facts relating to the
taxpayer’s business when he provided the erroneous information. |
(b) Interest at the
rate of ten percent (10%) per annum shall be charged on the late payment of the tax from
the due date until the date paid without regard to fault or other reason for the late
payment.
No interest shall accrue on an
adjustment of estimated tax liability to actual liability at the conclusion of a base
year. No interest shall be paid on a refund or charged on a late payment, provided the
refund or the late payment is made not more than thirty (30) days from the date of the
payment that created the refund or the due date of the tax, whichever is later. |