Spelman Investments

17-49

The Taxpayer filed an application for refund on February 15, 2017 for late penalty that was paid for Combined Reporting System (CRS) reporting periods starting May 2014 ending July 2016. The Department denied the refund request on April 11, 2017. The Taxpayer filed a timely protest with the Department on July 10, 2017. The Taxpayer manages rental property in Ruidoso, New Mexico and all record keeping and tax filings were completed by the Taxpayer. The Taxpayer used the Taxpayer Assistance Program (TAP) to pay all CRS taxes for the periods between May 2014 and July 2016 but did not file the returns for those time periods. The Taxpayer argued that it intended to file the returns properly but due to the change in the TAP system never realized that the returns were not filed with the Department. The Department had sent out non-filer notices to the Taxpayers on multiple occasions. However, the Taxpayer did not recall receiving these notices but did acknowledge that it received a lot of mail. One of the Departments representatives contacted the Taxpayer in July of 2016 to explain that none of the returns for the period in question had been filed. The representative then walked the Taxpayers through the TAP system. After, the Taxpayer filed all missing returns. The Taxpayer contacted the Department about the penalty that was due. It was suggested by the Department that the penalty be paid and an application for refund be submitted to the Department for the Taxpayer to try to get the amount paid back from the Department. The Hearing Officer determined that the Department had tried on many occasions to notify the Taxpayer of the returns that were not filed with the Department. The Taxpayer did not exercise ordinary business care and prudence that reasonable taxpayers would have exercised under the same circumstances. It was determined there was no room to allow for the abatement by statute and the penalty was properly assessed by the Department. For the reasons above, the Taxpayer’s protest is denied.