Reggie Olguin

16-19

On February 3, 2016, the Department denied the Taxpayer’s January 28, 2016 submission of the protest letter originally dated January 11, 2016 as untimely.  On March 4, 2016, the Taxpayer submitted a formal protest of the Department’s denial.  On October 26, 2015, the Department assessed the Taxpayer for gross receipts tax, penalty and interest for the CRS reporting periods from January 1, 2008 through January 31, 2011.  The Department mailed the assessment on October 27, 2016.  90-days from the Department’s October 27, 2016 mailing of the notice was January 25, 2016.  Included with the notice was the FYI-402: Taxpayer Remedies, which explains the Taxpayer’s ability to protest the assessment.  The document also provides the Department’s mailing and physical addresses for the filing of protests.  On January 11, 2016, the Taxpayer prepared a protest letter, but inadvertently transposed the P.O. Box number for the department with the street address number.  The Department did not receive this incorrectly addressed letter.  The Taxpayer never received his mailing back from the postal service.  On January 26, 2015, the Taxpayer called the Department’s protest office to inquire about the status of his protest, and was told that the Department had never received his protest letter.  On January 28, 2016, the Taxpayer emailed a copy of his January 11 protest letter to an employee of the protest office.  Section 7-1-24 NMSA 1978 requires a protest to be filed within 90-days of the date of mailing of the Department’s assessment.  As a result, the Department was unable to accept a protest after the January 25, 2016 deadline.  The Taxpayer’s protest was denied.