Healthsouth Rehabilitation

11-19

The Taxpayer filed a claim for refund for the gross receipts tax periods from January 2006 through December 2008 on October 8, 2009.  On May 19, 2010, the Department sent the Taxpayer a letter indicating that the Department could not take action on the claim because more than 210 days had passed.  The letter also stated that the claim could be re-filed if the statute of limitations had not expired.   A representative, calling on behalf of the Taxpayer, spoke with a Department employee who told him that the statute of limitations would not apply because the claim had originally been filed within the allowed time.  The Taxpayer re-filed the claim on May 19, 2010.  On July 20, 2010, the Department issued a letter granting the claim for tax periods December 2006 through December 2008, but denying the claim for tax periods January 2006 through November 2006, due to the statute of limitations.  The Taxpayer filed a formal protest to the denial and argued that they relied on the information provided by the Department employee.  Statute bars the Department from acting on a claim for refund that is more than 210 days old, even when the claim was originally filed within the statute of limitations.  For this reason, the Hearing Officer found that the Department’s denial of the claim for refund for tax periods January 2006 through November 2006 was appropriate.  The Taxpayer’s protest was denied.