Proposed assessment; notice; protest; hearing; letter of findings;
rehearing; appeal; demand for payment
Sec. 1. (a) If the department reasonably believes that a person has
not reported the proper amount of tax due, the department shall make
a proposed assessment of the amount of the unpaid tax on the basis
of the best information available to the department. The amount of
the assessment is considered a tax payment not made by the due date
and is subject to IC 6-8.1-10 concerning the imposition of penalties
and interest. The department shall send the person a notice of the
proposed assessment through the United States mail.
(b) If the person has a surety bond guaranteeing payment of the
tax for which the proposed assessment is made, the department shall
furnish a copy of the proposed assessment to the surety. The notice
of proposed assessment is prima facie evidence that the department's
claim for the unpaid tax is valid. The burden of proving that the
proposed assessment is wrong rests with the person against whom the
proposed assessment is made.
(c) The notice shall state that the person has sixty (60) days from
the date the notice is mailed to pay the assessment or to file a written
protest. If the person files a protest and requires a hearing on the
protest, the department shall:
(1) set the hearing at the department's earliest convenient time;
and
(2) notify the person by United States mail of the time, date, and
location of the hearing.
(d) The department may hold the hearing at the location of its
choice within Indiana if that location complies with IC 6-8.1-3-8.5.
(e) No later than sixty (60) days after conducting a hearing on a
protest, or after making a decision on a protest when no hearing is
requested, the department shall issue a letter of findings and shall
send a copy of the letter through the United States mail to the person
who filed the protest and to the person's surety, if the surety was
notified of the proposed assessment under subsection (a). The
department may continue the hearing until a later date if the taxpayer
presents additional information at the hearing or the taxpayer
requests an opportunity to present additional information after the
hearing.
(f) A person that disagrees with a decision in a letter of finding
may request a rehearing not more than thirty (30) days after the date
on which the letter of finding is issued by the department. The
department shall consider the request and may grant the rehearing if
the department reasonably believes that a rehearing would be in the
best interests of the taxpayer and the state.
(g) If a person disagrees with a decision in a letter of finding, the
person may appeal the decision to the tax court. However, the tax
court does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal that is filed more
than one hundred eighty (180) days after the date on which the letter
of finding is issued by the department.
(h) The tax court shall hear an appeal under subsection (g) de
novo and without a jury. The tax court may do the following:
(1) Uphold or deny any part of the assessment that is appealed.
(2) Assess the court costs in a manner that the court believes to
be equitable.
(3) Enjoin the collection of a listed tax under IC 33-26-6-2.
(i) The department shall demand payment, as provided in
IC 6-8.1-8-2(a), of any part of the proposed tax assessment, interest,
and penalties that it finds owing because:
(1) the person failed to properly respond within the sixty (60)
day period;
(2) the person requested a hearing but failed to appear at that
hearing; or
(3) after consideration of the evidence presented in the protest
or hearing, the department finds that the person still owes tax.
(j) The department shall make the demand for payment in the
manner provided in IC 6-8.1-8-2.
(k) Subsection (a) does not apply to a motor carrier fuel tax return.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.61, SEC.1. Amended by
P.L.332-1989(ss), SEC.28; P.L.60-1990, SEC.12; P.L.71-1993,
SEC.17; P.L.98-2004, SEC.73.
Last modified: May 28, 2006