Gail Stefl

15-15

On October 29, 2014, the Department assessed the Taxpayer for gross receipts tax, penalty, and interest for the tax period ending on December 31, 2013.  On January 21, 2015, the Taxpayer filed a protest to the assessment.  While the protest was pending, the Taxpayer conceded that the tax was due.  She paid the tax principal and limited her protest to penalty and interest.  In 2013, the Taxpayer was working on contract as a consultant.  She knew that she should be paying gross receipts tax at that time.  The Taxpayer failed to pay her gross receipts tax in 2013.  The Taxpayer has lingering health and mental problems from an injury sustained in 2005.  As a result, she has trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time and does not deal well with changes in routine.  In 2013, the tax office where the Taxpayer usually went to pay her gross receipts tax was closed for a period of time for renovation.  The Taxpayer argued that she was not trying to avoid paying taxes and that her failure to pay was due to stress and her medical conditions. The Taxpayer argued that she should not have to pay penalty because these factors caused her fail to pay her taxes, but she did not intentionally avoid them.  The Hearing Officer found that, although these factors may have contributed to the Taxpayer’s failure to file, they did not make her unable to pay her taxes.  The Taxpayer’s protest was denied.