William C Gardner, DDS

24-02

On August 17, 2022, the Department issued 54 assessments to the Taxpayer for gross receipts tax and interest, and then, on August 23, 2022, issued two additional assessments. On September 27, 2022, the Taxpayer filed a timely protest of the assessments. The Taxpayer is a professional corporation that is a separate legal entity from the individual named. The Department eventually abated the assessments made to the Taxpayer because the tax was also assessed to the individual who worked for and served as the registered agent of the corporation. After the abatement by the Department, the Taxpayer requested reimbursement for costs and fees. A taxpayer is entitled to an award of reasonable costs and fees, including attorney fees, if the taxpayer is the prevailing party in the proceeding. However, a taxpayer is not considered the prevailing party if the Department’s position was based upon a reasonable application of the law. Since the individual who was assessed the tax was found to be substantially underreporting his gross receipts, the Hearing Officer determined that the Department’s application of the law was reasonable at the time of the assessment and the Taxpayer was not entitled to an award of costs and fees.