This protest involved whether the Taxpayers were liable for penalty and interest for filing gross receipts tax returns late in 2020 and 2021. The Taxpayers agreed that they had failed to file the returns when they were due but argued that this was because they were not able to obtain information and assistance from the Department that would have allowed them to file on time. The Hearing Officer determined that the Taxpayers were negligent under the law by failing to take action when action was required and failing to exercise the degree of ordinary business care and prudence that reasonable taxpayers would exercise in similar circumstances and the Hearing Officer denied the protest.
