08/11
On November 4, 2019, the Department issued an assessment to the Taxpayer for penalty and interest because of the late payment of personal income tax for tax year 2018. On November 7, 2019, the Taxpayer filed a timely written protest to the assessment. The Department assessed the late penalty and interest because the Taxpayer mailed the return and payment on April 18, 2019, when the due date for that tax year was April 15, 2019. The Taxpayer argued that there should not be any penalty because the payment was made only three days late and there should have been a grace period. The Taxpayer also explained that he was not used to filing personal income tax because he had previously been active duty military and his income was not taxable. The Hearing Officer determined that the two percent penalty for late payment could only be abated if the taxpayer could prove he was non-negligent. By regulation the Taxpayer’s lack of knowledge or erroneous belief that there was no grace period made him negligent. Because of this, the Hearing office denied the protest and order that the Taxpayer was liable for the penalty and interest.